WASHINGTON — Responding to Republican charges that the community organizing group ACORN has misused federal grants, the Justice Department’s inspector general said Monday that he would assess whether ACORN got any department funds, and if it did, what it did with the money.
In a letter to Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, Inspector General Glenn Fine also said his office would review whether the Justice Department has audited any money that ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) might have received.
According to Republican lawmakers and a top ACORN official, the grassroots organization has received about $53 million in federal funding since 1994.
Republicans began calling for federal investigations of the group after ACORN workers at several offices offered questionable tax advice to two conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp.
