Shirley Sherrod

Sherrod Statement On Breitbart Suit: He Never Apologized

Eric Lach | February 15, 2011, 11:30AM

Former USDA official Shirley Sherrod

Shirley Sherrod has issued a statement addressing the defamation suit she filed against Andrew Breitbart in D.C. Superior Court last week. Sherrod was forced to resign from her USDA job last year, after Breitbart posted an edited video of a speech she gave to a Georgia NAACP chapter.

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Eric Holder

Holder, Vilsack To Rep. King: We Will Indeed Combat Any Pigford Fraud

Ryan J. Reilly | December 8, 2010, 12:52PM

Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hit back at critics of the settlement reached between the government and African-American farmers who say they were discriminated against by the Agriculture Department. Conservatives said the legislation, which President Barack Obama is set to sign into law today, has the potential for fraud.

TPM asked at a news conference this morning what the government was doing to combat fraud in the Pigford settlement.

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Pigford settlement

The Other Racist Thing Rep. King Said About Pigford (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 12:11PM

Rep Steve King and John Boyd

A few days ago we told you about some of the things that Rep. Steve King (R-IA) had said on the House floor in opposition to a settlement that will benefit black farmers discriminated against by the USDA. Those things included that the claims amount to "slavery reparations" orchestrated by a "very, very urban president."

Well, we missed something, which MSNBC's Ed Schultz played last night:

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Keepseagle settlement

Gov't Announces $760M Settlement For Native American Farmers

Rachel Slajda | October 20, 2010, 8:44AM

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

The departments of Agriculture and Justice yesterday announced a $780 million settlement for Native American farmers who were discriminated against by the USDA in the 1980s and 90s, ending more than a decade of litigation.

If the settlement is approved by a federal court, as expected, an untold number of Native American farmers who were denied loans and other assistance by the USDA will be able to apply for restitution, between $50,000 and $250,000 each -- a total of $680 million. The settlement will also offer up to $80 million in debt forgiveness for eligible farmers.

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Shirley Sherrod

Sherrod Refuses USDA Job Offers; May Consult Instead

Rachel Slajda | August 24, 2010, 10:31AM

Shirley Sherrod and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

Shirley Sherrod, the USDA appointee who was fired this summer over allegations of racism stemming from a misleading video, will not take another job with the Departure of Agriculture.

Sherrod and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the decision in a press conference this morning after meeting face-to-face for the first time since the hullabaloo happened last month.

Sherrod was asked to resign her position as director of rural development for Georgia after conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted an edited video of Sherrod speaking to a local Georgia NAACP. In the clip, Sherrod speaks of prejudice she once felt toward a white farmer while working for a nonprofit that was created to help black farmers.

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Shirley Sherrod

Sherrod's Potential New Title: Deputy Director Of Advocacy And Outreach

Rachel Slajda | July 27, 2010, 1:19PM

Former USDA Official Shirley Sherrod

CBS News reports today that the job offered to Shirley Sherrod by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack would carry a new title for Sherrod: deputy director of the Office of Advocacy and Outreach.

Sherrod told CBS that she's still reading the official written job offer and has not made a decision about accepting it.

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Shirley Sherrod

Vilsack Moves Into Full Damage-Control Mode After Sherrod Debacle (VIDEO)

Megan Carpentier | July 21, 2010, 4:57PM

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

In the wake of the Shirley Sherrod debacle, and his Keystone Kops-eqsue role in it, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack shifted into a full damage-control mode this afternoon. He reportedly called Shirley Sherrod to offer her back her job (she was, at publication time, still considering), held a press conference at the Agriculture Department at which he offered her a public apology and prepared to follow it up with a reported confab with the Congressional Black Caucus.

So much for limiting the fall-out from the Breitbart video.

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Shirley Sherrod

Gibbs Apologizes To Sherrod; She May Get Her Job Back (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 3:01PM

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today offered an apology to Shirley Sherrod on behalf of the Obama administration.

He said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is trying to reach Sherrod as well, to offer his own apology and to "talk about their next steps."

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Shirley Sherrod

Vilsack Reconsidering On Sherrod, But Does She Even Want Her Job Back?

Rachel Slajda | July 21, 2010, 9:14AM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

In a statement sent at 2 a.m. today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack backed off his previous statements defending the forced resignation of Georgia rural development director Shirley Sherrod and said he's willing to reconsider.

"I am of course willing and will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the American people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner," Vilsack said.

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USDA

USDA, White House Deny White House Involvement In Sherrod's Forced Resignation (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 6:01PM

Former USDA employee Shirley Sherrod

Officials with the USDA and the White House this afternoon deny that the White House had any involvement in the forced resignation of Shirley Sherrod from the USDA. And Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said she was was asked to resign because she had opened herself up to future allegations of racism.

Sherrod was asked to resign yesterday over a video clip from a speech she gave in March to a Georgia chapter of the NAACP. Sherrod, until yesterday the Georgia state director of rural development, told an audience that in 1986, while she was working with a farm aid nonprofit, she didn't do all she could to help a white farmer.

Since her forced resignation, Sherrod has claimed repeatedly that her boss in the USDA told her the White House wanted her to resign.

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USDA

Agriculture Secretary Stands By Asking For Sherrod's Resignation

Rachel Slajda | July 20, 2010, 3:48PM

Dep. of Agriculture Sec. Thomas Vilsack

The USDA just released a statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack defending his decision to demand the resignation of Shirley Sherrod, the Georgia director of rural development, over a video posted on Big Government.

The statement:

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