HUD staff told to favor allies

[sabra]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-jackson_21nat.ART.North.Edition1.3e86bf8.html

HUD staff told to favor allies
Exclusive: Inquiry finds no proof aides heeded Jackson's urgings

WASHINGTON – Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson urged top aides to take contractors' politics into account when handing out grants and deals, an internal department review has found, though there is no "direct evidence" that favoritism actually occurred.

The department's inspector general began investigating Mr. Jackson after he boasted in a Dallas speech that he'd once scuttled a deal because the would-be contractor disparaged President Bush.

The 340-page report – issued so far only to Mr. Jackson and a handful of lawmakers but shown Wednesday to The Dallas Morning News – revealed no hard proof of favoritism at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Mr. Jackson, former head of the Dallas Housing Authority, claimed full exoneration. But detractors called it a scathing portrait of cronyism that cast doubts on his judgment and integrity.