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Flores Faces Criminal Investigation
Another week, another DOJ investigation of itself.
The latest, reported this morning by the Washington Post, involves J. Robert Flores, the Administrator at the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, who has been the subject of a recent series of articles by ABC News investigating grants awarded by his office.
Flores is facing a federal criminal investigation for questions arising from "his hiring practices, travel expenses, and personal ties to groups which he gave millions of dollars" the Post reports.
ABC documented several questionable grant awards by Flores. He gave the World Golf Foundation's First Tee Initiative a grant, after the group invited him on a trip and paid for him to play a round of golf. The group's honorary chairman is former President George H. Bush. Though Flores reimbursed the organization for the $159 in green's fees, he did so only yesterday -- hours before his Congressional testimony.
Flores awarded a half-million dollar grant to First Tee, despite it ranking 47th out of 104 applicants and being "not recommended" by staff who said they "didn't understand how funding this program would advance juvenile justice." The decision was openly rebuked by members of the committee.
"The foundation paid for your greens fees and then the next year you disregard the recommendations of your professional staff and award the foundation a half-million dollar federal grant. You have tainted the process," said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).
Of the 104 applicants ranked by the peer review process, Flores failed to award grants to any of those in the top five. Rather, Flores gave funding to five programs, not recommended by staff, including an abstinence education program called Best Friends, led by Elaine Bennett, the wife of Reagan administration Cabinet official Bill Bennett. Two faith based programs were also selected.
From Chairman Henry Waxman's (D-CA) opening statement:
Mr. Flores awarded a $1.1 million grant to the Best Friends Foundation, an abstinence- only organization, that ranked 53 out of 104 applications. The career staff who reviewed this application said it was "poorly written," "had no focus," "was illogical," and "made no sense."
Flores testified to the distribution of over $8 million in department grants. According to emails and testimony from Flores' own staff in the office of Juvenile Justice, as well as the peer review board that ranks the grants, the grant administration was distinctly slanted.
"Mr. Flores, it seems you're the only person at the Department of Justice who thinks your process was fair, transparent and served the interest of taxpayers," Waxman concluded.

















Did Flores invoke Executive Privelege?
June 20, 2008 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
The high level minorities planted by the Administration in key positions have surely have created a bad impression for all hard working minorities seeking to advance on the political stage. Rumor has it Alberto Gonzales (the illegal wetback mexican alien) was seen peddling chicklets from a cart to tourists in San Antonio, Texas. Can anyone post photo for the benefit of society.
http://www.bccmeteorites.com/misconduct-planetary.html
http://www.bccmeteorites.com/NASAcert.html
SRD-BCCM
June 20, 2008 7:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
By this illogic, have Doug Feith and Brad Schlozman done a lot to discredit hard-working white appointees?
I don't see the connection. Silvestre Reyes is no better or worse a Congressman for this.
June 20, 2008 10:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think this program may have merit. I play golf and have never once thought of becoming a juvenile delinquent.
June 21, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't play gold and so far (I'm 60+) I've not thought of becoming a juvenile delinquent!
June 23, 2008 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
By this illogic, have Doug Feith and Brad Schlozman done a lot to discredit hard-working white appointees?
Maybe not, but they, and some others you could name have not done a lot to enhance the reputation of Jews as ethical, compassionate people.
Of course, as soon as a Jew so much as touches Zionism, he's headed for a viscious downward spiral. At this point, I think of them as two seperate religions. Well, one is a religion, one is a cult. A cult which has been sucessful in stealing a country, but a cult nonetheless.
And yes, I am a Jew.
June 21, 2008 11:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
Posted by Mooser: "And yes, I am a Jew".
You mean a "self-hating Jew".(LOL)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-hating_Jew
June 21, 2008 5:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I think this program may have merit. I play golf and have never once thought of becoming a juvenile delinquent."
The program most certainly has merit.I too,play golf.I`m lousy.I am also an alcoholism counselor.If I had had this type of program when I was a teen,I would have never wasted my life as an alcoholism counselor.I would have wasted it as a golfer,a politician, or some other worthless,worthwhile profession.
June 21, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
A video of the hearing can be viewed here: http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2027
June 21, 2008 5:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
As I watch each re-run of an Administration or Congressional incompetence and/or corruption expose I have come to believe that we are paying these people much too well (plus health and retirement benefits!!).
It seems to me that we should cut their compensation package to the median compensation (and benefits) of normal working folks with similar challenging responsibilities in the "real" working world (not a public employee) (apologies in advance to other hardworking public employees).
By doing this we would no longer attract the caliber of people we are reading about in all of these exposes who seem to be mostly opportunist slackers and con-artists of the "your doing a heck-of-a-job Brownie" or Jack Abramoff or Alberto Gonzales types.
Paying "real world" wages and benefits would only attract competent, honest and hard-working folks, a welcome change I would think.
June 21, 2008 8:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
What do you have to do to become as stupid as a republican?
Do you have to do as I think it was Ben Franklin said,(to live your life in faith you must first close the eye of reason)?
Is there a special school you can attend that takes all the ability to think away?
June 22, 2008 9:48 AM | Reply | Permalink