Open Thread: Pigford Fraud Investigation Getting Very Interesting

February 11th, 2011 8:27 AM

Over the past seven months, Andrew Breitbart has worked to expose what he says is rampant fraud in the federal government's awarding of settlement money to black Americans who claimed they were discriminated against in applying for farming permits with the Department of Agriculture. Some sort of fraud has been apparent for a while now, since the number of "farmers" awarded money under the "Pigford" settlement exceeded the number of black farmers in the nation at the time.

But the investigation has unearthed far more damning evidence of wrongdoing. Yesterday Breitbart unviled audio of the president of one of the organizations that worked with the federal govenrment to pay out settlement money all but endorsing fraud in the process. Check out his statements below the break, courtesy of Ed Morrissey:

Tom Burrell, president the Black Farmers and Agriculture Association, of tells potential claimants what happened when the checks hit the streets: “Where did you get that new truck from? Why is Sears Roebuck visiting your house? … Something’s up.

Stranahan then says that Burrell gives them the correct — and allegedly unchallengeable — answers that will win them a Pigford score. “Did he own land? Let’s suppose the answer is no. The judge is going to give you three more shots at it. … Did he ATTEMPT to own? … How does the judge know if you tried? [Laughter] …

Congress set up a system … “everyone who says they tried [unintelligible] then you have to give them credit for it.”

“The issue is not whether you farmed in 1965, but whether you were discriminated against in 1981-1996. … My sister said my daddy went to the USDA office between 1981 and 1996. … The judge says you get paid.”

Pretty damning stuff, no? Will this get the media paying attention to the scandal? By the way, make sure you check out Ed's post for more details on the presser, and Big Government's Pigford dossier for more on the investigation (they should be releasing this audio soon).