Many of ACORN’s affiliates, allies, and old chapters remain active
under different names—and at least two have received federal
dollars—despite the left-wing community-organizing group’s official
dissolution and ban on receiving federal funds, according to a new
report.
Cause of Action, a nonprofit government watchdog group, recently identified 174 active or rebranded ACORN affiliates, as well as organizations that share former ACORN staff.
The groups shared the same physical location, leadership or staff, or tax ID number as old ACORN chapters, Cause of Action said.
At least two of the groups, Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA) and Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY), have received federal dollars. According to MHANY, it receives funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Fannie Mae.
“It’s a serious concern because, as we stated in our letter to the IRS, it has been engaging in political activity,” Cause of Action executive director Dan Epstein told the Free Beacon. “We have concerns that these rebranded groups are using the same model that ACORN essentially trademarked: getting tax-exempt funds and using them for political purposes.”
Matthew Vadum, an investigator for the Capital Research Center who has tracked ACORN, called the revolving door of staff among old ACORN affiliates and their political activities “quite incestuous and corrupt.”
“They’re really straddling the line with what nonprofits are allowed to do,” Vadum said.
Read more: http://freebeacon.com/its-alive/
Cause of Action, a nonprofit government watchdog group, recently identified 174 active or rebranded ACORN affiliates, as well as organizations that share former ACORN staff.
The groups shared the same physical location, leadership or staff, or tax ID number as old ACORN chapters, Cause of Action said.
At least two of the groups, Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA) and Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY), have received federal dollars. According to MHANY, it receives funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Fannie Mae.
“It’s a serious concern because, as we stated in our letter to the IRS, it has been engaging in political activity,” Cause of Action executive director Dan Epstein told the Free Beacon. “We have concerns that these rebranded groups are using the same model that ACORN essentially trademarked: getting tax-exempt funds and using them for political purposes.”
Matthew Vadum, an investigator for the Capital Research Center who has tracked ACORN, called the revolving door of staff among old ACORN affiliates and their political activities “quite incestuous and corrupt.”
“They’re really straddling the line with what nonprofits are allowed to do,” Vadum said.
Read more: http://freebeacon.com/its-alive/
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