Menu Search Account

LegiStorm

Get LegiStorm App Visit Product Demo Website
» Get LegiStorm App
» Get LegiStorm Pro Free Demo

Caught Our Eye

New Fattah chief of staff worked for nonprofit implicated in federal investigation

Posted by Jenna Ebersole on Oct. 14, 2014

Rep. Chaka Fattah's (D-Pa.) new chief of staff ran the operations of an organization founded by the congressman that federal investigators say was part of a scheme to misuse taxpayer funds.

A former Fattah staffer has pleaded guilty and detailed a plan to funnel funds for a loan to Fattah's 2007 campaign for mayor of Philadelphia through several nonprofits, according to reporting by Philly.com. Roger J. Jackson Jr., Fattah's new chief of staff, was the vice president and COO of one of the groups, the Educational Advancement Alliance, between 2005 and 2009.

While the investigation into EAA has received press attention, Jackson's hiring this month has not.

Fattah said in a statement Tuesday he is pleased to have Jackson on staff after his 20 years as an "educator, principal and non-profit executive."

"I could not be prouder of the work of the Educational Advancement Alliance, and Roger's success there helping more than 20,000 African American and Hispanic professionals earn graduate degrees," Fattah said. "He is an extraordinarily capable public servant, and I am thrilled to have him join my congressional office in this role."

Jackson's name has not emerged publicly from the federal investigation. However, his group has become a central part of an alleged scheme to bypass a campaign contribution cap in an election Fattah later lost. Public focus increased on EAA after longtime Fattah aide Gregory Naylor pleaded guilty in August to concealing the misuse of grant funds and campaign contributions. 

Naylor has pleaded guilty to helping to circumvent the $5,000 contribution limit in the mayoral race by taking a $1 million loan and paying it back in part with $600,000 in federal grant dollars diverted from EAA, according to Philly.com. Fattah directed more than $12 million in earmarks to EAA between 2008 and 2010, according to data compiled by Taxpayers for Common Sense.

The Department of Justice also audited a $1.87 million federal grant awarded during the time Jackson was with the organization. The audit concluded $1.26 million of the funds, managed by EAA to improve access to higher education for at-risk students in Philadelphia, was misused or unsupportable under the grant.

Jackson's connection to Fattah extends back to 1990 when he participated in the Fattah Conference on Higher Education, according to Fattah's statement. EAA has hosted the conference, according to Philly.com.

Jackson later briefly interned for Fattah in 1991 in his Pennsylvania State Senate office, Fattah said.

Before joining Fattah on the Hill earlier this month, Jackson was executive director at the College Settlement of Philadelphia. Since his years at EAA he has also served as executive officer of Arise Academy Charter High School in Philadelphia and executive director of the YMCA of Philadelphia and Vicinity.

Jackson holds degrees from the Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Lehigh University, Temple University and Seton Hall University.

Jackson tweeted on his first day in Fattah's office: "Is blessed to begin today the next chapter God has prepared for me; excited to see how he uses me in this assignment! #WalterMitty."