Jackson Jambalaya

NAACP President Derrick Johnson, yes, that Derrick Johnson,  engaged in a little bit of grandstanding as the fraudster complained the Justice Department was not investigating the Mississippi DHS scandal.  ABC News' Beatrice Peterson reported: 

 

NAACP President Derrick Johnson called on the Department of Justice "to aggressively investigate and prosecute those responsible for the massive theft of federal funds that apparently took place in Mississippi in fiscal years 2017 through 2019." He noted that "funds from these programs are to be used for the neediest and most vulnerable in our society."....

The NAACP's Johnson said in his letter, "these apparent crimes were ignored by DOJ under your predecessor Attorney General, and we are calling on you to take action that is long overdue."

Johnson said the Mississippi state auditor's findings were referred to the Justice Department, "however, nearly two years later, despite the overwhelming documentary evidence of fraud, forgery, and abuse in this matter, DOJ has not yet launched a criminal investigation."

He said in the two-page letter to Garland that "failure to investigate may lead to the impression that DOJ is continuing the previous administration's pattern of looking the other way when laws are broken by white state officials, especially when the wrongdoing disproportionately harms minorities."

Johnson urged "in the strongest possible terms to take immediate action to investigate and prosecute those involved in this massive theft of federal funds."

"The Department received the letter and will review it," a spokesperson for the Justice Department told ABC News in a statement.

There is so much missing in this report one doesn't know where to begin as the reporter swallowed Mr. Johnson's line hook and sinker instead of fact-checking the NAACP President although she might have done so if he wore an orange wig.  

The Justice Department is investigating the DHS scandal but it discovered the fraud the same way the rest of us did: watching the news.  The Clarion-Ledger reported on February 6, 2020: 

U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst says neither his office nor the FBI was notified about Mississippi Auditor Shad White's investigation into alleged embezzlement of millions of dollars of federal welfare funds.

"While we commend the reported actions, neither the FBI nor the United States Attorney’s Office was contacted by the State Auditor or the Hinds County District Attorney about this investigation, although millions of federal dollars are alleged to have been stolen," Hurst said in a statement Thursday. He said his office learned of Wednesday's indictments and arrests of six people in the case through media reports....

Hurst said: "After hearing about the investigation, I reached out to the State Auditor and met with him last week to inquire into this matter. I subsequently spoke with the District Attorney about this matter as well. While information about this investigation was made available to us on Tuesday, we in the United States Attorney’s Office and the FBI only learned on Wednesday afternoon from media reports about the indictment and arrests, at the same time as the general public did." Article

The State Auditor forwarded the case to the Justice Department. However, the Justice Department must start its investigation from scratch even though it has the State Auditor's file on the case.  For some strange reason, "trust me" is not a reason for the U.S. Attorney to accept evidence at face value. Thus,  it is not uncommon for indictments to roll in such cases more than two years after the investigation begins.  Of course, such facts were left out of the ABC story but such is to be expected of the national media. 

If Ms. Peterson bothered to conduct some basic research, she might have also found the Justice Department indicted the Krewe of New for fraud last summer for allegedly submitting phony claims to MDE for education funds but alas,  never let a few facts get in the way of parroting the favored few such as Derrick Johnson.  

Next up is Mr. Johnson himself.  Perhaps Derrick the Dumb should keep his mouth shut when it comes to fraud.  It wasn't that long ago the Mississippi Secretary of State busted Derrick Johnson for operating a bogus charity, One Voice.  

JJ reported in 2013: 

The Secretary of State cracked down on a Derrick Johnson charity.  It seems our head of the Mississippi NAACP is paid $120,000 a year to operate One Voice, a non-profit with the same address as the state NAACP.   Although One Voice is considered to be a charity or non-profit, in reality it is a slush fund as most of the money is spent on consultants, travel, and salaries.  Employees could sign checks made payable to themselves.  Debit cards were issued to officers.  $1.78 million a year makes for a nice little slush fund. 

One Voice states its purpose is to "enhance civic engagement in the formation of public policy through leadership development, research support, training, and technical assistance for advocacy groups, associations, and community-based organizations with the purpose of improving the quality of life for African-Americans and other disenfranchised communities." 

The state said One Voice did not submit audited financial statements nor was it registered with the state as required by law.  The state also said One Voice tried to avoid submitting all records when they were requested. The state said One Voice paid for individuals to attend NAACP events in Los Angeles. It paid overdraft fees of $1,650.  It allowed officers to use ATM cards to withdraw cash from the company's bank account. One Voice even chipped in on a trip to Paris, France for an unnamed person.  Officers, directors, employees were allowed to sign checks made payable to themselves. 

What is interesting is the state said "One Voice should not be soliciting funds, including submitting grant applications, to Mississippi based individuals and organizations." One Voice agreed these facts were true and waived a hearing on the matter.   One Voice cannot solicit in Mississippi unless it submits a complete renewal registration and is approved by the state. Earlier post and copy of order.

Mr. Johnson's "charity" spent half a million dollars on salaries, $165,000 on travel, $128,000 on conferences, and of course, $540,000 on consultants.   Good grub if you can't get it - without getting caught. 

While the report seems pretty bad, it doesn't begin to tell the tale of the looting that took place at One Voice.  Voter registration took place overseas because One Voice paid for separate trips to Spain and Paris for Derrick the Dumb.  Fancy Jackson dives such as The Penguin and Char benefitted from the One Voice welfare as Mr. Johnson and friends upgraded their palates.  Derrick and his dominoes partied at the NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles on the One Voice dime while conducting "voter outreach" in the Golden State. Indeed, Mr. Johnson would have fit right in with the Krewe of New.