Rep. Brad Ashford’s (NE-02) HUD problems are not going away. The Nebraska Watchdog reports that U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is now calling on HUD Secretary
Julian Castro to release a copy of the full audit of the Omaha Housing Authority. Ashford served on OHA’s board of directors from 1996 to 2001 and was CEO
from 2002 to 2006.
In 2013, HUD released a brief summary of the audit that uncovered that OHA from 2003 to 2005 “OHA didn’t follow HUD’s requirements or its own requirements
in buying $1.9 million worth of goods and services.” Ashford has claimed that the money was misspent after his tenure at OHA, but the audit summary says otherwise.
Ashford has put no pressure on OHA to release a full copy of the audit and that “Any decision to release a copy of the report is in the hands of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.”
Big surprise. Clearly, Ashford is worried about what else could be found in the audits.