HUD “Snitch” Jumped Ship

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson is a man who values loyalty.

Back in 2006, he aired his philosophy for awarding HUD contracts:

“Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”

Of course, things have unraveled for Jackson since then. A Congressional investigation and inspector general probe launched in the wake of his comments. And now a federal grand jury is investigating whether he lied to investigators when he told them that he doesn’t “touch contracts.”

Evidence is mounting that Jackson did indeed touch contracts — in particular, contracts for his friends and, the National Journal reports today, companies that owe him large sums of money.

And here’s where loyalty comes back into play. Late last month, a senior HUD official abruptly resigned from his post, effective January 4th. The official, Orlando Cabrera, gave no other explanation than that he was leaving to “spend time with my wife and kids.”

Today’s Journal gives a good idea of why he might have left:

Orlando Cabrera, the outgoing assistant secretary for public and Indian housing, was among those questioned. When contacted by National Journal, Cabrera acknowledged that investigators had interviewed him. “I have been questioned as a witness,” he said, “and I have been told that I am not a target of the investigation.” Cabrera and Jackson are not on speaking terms. HUD insiders say that the secretary was angry with Cabrera for speaking to investigators and considers him “a snitch.”

The Journal focuses on one key contract in particular. In 2006, Jackson elbowed Cabrera aside and installed his deputy as the point man for a huge contract with the Housing Authority of New Orleans. The $127 million contract eventually went to a team that included an Atlanta company, Columbia Residentialm, which has “significant financial ties to Jackson: It owes him between $250,000 and $500,000 ‘for past services,’ according to the HUD secretary’s public financial disclosure reports.”