Meeks De-Files his Pledge to Reveal All

March 17, 2010

Thanks for nothing, Mr. Meeks!

Under intense grilling about missing money from a Hurricane Katrina charity fund, Rep. Gregory Meeks had offered to open his files to show all he’d done for the victims — but slammed the door when a Post reporter arrived at his Queens office yesterday to take him up on it.

Meeks, who for weeks had dodged questions about the controversial fund, promised on Monday that he would bare his books.

“I’d love to have you come to my office. We can show you the files of the individuals that we helped,” the Queens Democrat said in an interview on NY1’s “Inside City Hall.”

His appearance came after a series of Post articles that revealed troubling questions about New Yorkers Organized to Assist Hurricane Families, or NOAH-F, the Katrina fund associated with another nonprofit he helped create.

NOAH-F received at least $31,000 in donations — but a Post investigation found that only $1,392 had gone to Katrina victims. The rest is unaccounted for.

Meeks — who initially promised that “every dime” would go to help victims — insists he isn’t responsible. But he solicited donations for the charity on his Web site, and happily posed with an oversized $10,000 check to NOAH-F five years ago.

In addition, he steered money to the charity that administers the fund, the New Direction Development Corp., which also has funds that are unaccounted for and is being investigated by the feds.

Less than 24 hours after Meeks offered to open his files, The Post took him up on his invite — but was promptly rebuffed.

Read more: (Reuven Fenton and Jennifer Fermino, “Meeks De-Files his Pledge to Reveal All,” New York Post, 03/17/2010)