Michelle Obama Top
School Lunch Ally Charged with Embezzling LAUSD Funds
by Dr. Susan Berry 10 Aug 2017
A top school
lunch reformer for the Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD), who received praise from former first lady Michelle Obama, has been charged with 15
felony counts, including embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds.
David Binkle, 55, a former chef who ultimately oversaw a
budget of hundreds of millions of dollars as he implemented Michelle Obama’s
school lunch program in the LAUSD, pleaded not guilty to all the counts during
an appearance in court on Tuesday and posted $220,000 bail, reports
the L.A. Times.
Prosecutors allege that Binkle – who railed
against childhood obesity with appearances on Tedx
Talks – illegally directed about $65,000 of the school district’s funds into
his private consulting firm, some of which eventually ended up in his own
pocket.
The news report continues:
According to court documents, Binkle repeatedly
misappropriated district funds in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $15,000
between 2010 and 2014. Prosecutors also allege that he forged an application to
become a vendor with the district and failed to disclose outside financial
interests.
Binkle, who became known for his use of the phrase
“nasty, rotty” food, led the former first lady’s unpopular school lunch reform
in the district even as students established
their own black market of favorite – albeit “unhealthy” – foods.
In his efforts to implement the school lunch reform,
Binkle offered lengthy contracts to providers such as Tyson Foods Inc.,
Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales, Goldstar Foods, and Five Star Gourmet Foods.
Some of the vendors also agreed to annual donations of
$500,000 to a healthy eating marketing program in the school district.
Problems with Binkle’s management, however, were noted as
early as 2011 by George Beck, a former food-services deputy branch budget
director, who reportedly brought his concerns to the district but was ignored
and then laid off.
Nevertheless, in 2014, the LAUSD’s Office of the
Inspector General (OIG) accused Binkle of failing to disclose his ownership of
California Culinary Consulting or payments from vendors who appeared at school
nutrition events.
The OIG audit noted his firm presented “at minimum an
appearance of a conflict of interest,” and his marketing program was “being
mismanaged and at worst being consistently abused” by Binkle, who said he was
“frustrated and baffled” by the allegations.
“I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,
since my actions were approved and encouraged from senior district officials,
general counsel or the ethics office,” Binkle emailed the Times. “I
am confident the truth and facts will show the allegations are
unsubstantiated.”
Beck, however, reportedly said Binkle’s activity was a
symptom of larger problems within LAUSD:
He negotiated these contracts with these firms with no
oversight, nobody else participating. It was a huge procurement bureaucracy.
There was one contract for vegetarian entrees, and I remember sitting in a
meeting with 35 people. Binkle was there. He had one entrée that was $2.25 per
item, and our reimbursement was less than the cost of the meal. Every meal that
we sold, we were losing money.
Beck added he was surprised it took so long for
prosecutors to uncover the problems with Binkle.
“All these internal control entities that were supposed
to be exercising internal control were not doing it,” he said. “I brought it to
their attention, and they did nothing about it.”
“While recognizing that everyone is innocent until proven
guilty, the charges against Mr. Binkle are extremely upsetting as they do not
reflect the professionalism, ethics and character we expect of all L.A. Unified
employees,” the school district said in a statement.
In October of 2014, Breitbart News also reported a
major scandal in the LAUSD in which former superintendent John Deasy – a former employee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – resigned after pushing a $1.3 billion iPad buy
for every child in the district from joint sellers Apple and Pearson, the
latter of which had designed a companion iPad curriculum. The program was a
huge failure and led to further scrutiny of Deasy’s close personal ties with Apple
and Pearson.
In 2015, Deasy ultimately joined
a training academy funded by one of his supporters, philanthropist Eli Broad.
He became a consultant and the superintendent-in-residence for the Broad
Academy, which trains urban public education leaders.
Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD)
Roy R. Romer was a
superintendent for the Los Angeles
Unified School District (LAUSD), and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.
Note: John Deasy was a
superintendent for
the Los Angeles Unified School District
(LAUSD), a board member for the Los
Angeles Fund for Public Education, and a deputy director of education for
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Committee for Economic
Development, and the International
Rescue Committee.
Andrea
Jung was a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development, and is
a director at Apple Inc.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Committee
for Economic Development, and the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a friend of Michael Douglas, and was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Committee for Economic
Development, the International
Rescue Committee, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank).
Michael Douglas
is a friend of George Soros, and a
director at the Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank),
was the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think
tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United States in war)
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) was a funder for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Warren E. Buffett
is an adviser for the Nuclear Threat
Initiative (think tank), a trustee & major donor for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
and Howard G. Buffett & Susan A. Buffett’s father.
Howard G. Buffett
is Warren E. Buffett’s son, and a
director at the ONE Campaign.
Susan A. Buffett is Warren E. Buffett’s daughter,
and a director at the ONE Campaign.
Mark Suzman is a
director at the ONE Campaign, and
the president of global policy for
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Joe
Cerrell is a managing director, global policy & advocacy for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
and a director at the ONE Campaign.
International
Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE
Campaign.
Michelle Obama
was an advocate for the ONE Campaign,
and married to Barack Obama.
Barack
Obama is married to Michelle Obama,
and Obamacare is his signature
policy initiative.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
CGI Group Inc.
was the Obamacare contractor that
developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Donna S. Morea
was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.,
and a trustee at the Committee for
Economic Development.
Roy R. Romer was a
trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, a superintendent for the Los
Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and is Paul M. Romer’s father.
Paul
M. Romer is Roy R. Romer’s son, was
a trustee at the Carnegie Foundation for
the Advancement of Teaching, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution (think tank).
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Committee for Economic Development, the International Rescue Committee, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Andrew Carnegie
was the founder of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace (think tank).
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) was a funder for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Sam
Nunn is a co-chairman & CEO for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and a visiting fellow at
the Hoover Institution (think tank).
Warren E. Buffett
is an adviser for the Nuclear Threat Initiative
(think tank), a trustee & major donor for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard G. Buffett & Susan
A. Buffett’s father, and a friend of Byron
D. Trott.
Howard G. Buffett
is Warren E. Buffett’s son, and a
director at the ONE Campaign.
Susan A. Buffett
is Warren E. Buffett’s daughter, and a director at the ONE Campaign.
Mark Suzman is a
director at the ONE Campaign, and
the president of global policy for
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Joe
Cerrell is a managing director, global policy & advocacy for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
and a director at the ONE Campaign.
International
Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE
Campaign.
Michelle Obama
was an advocate for the ONE Campaign,
a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP, and is
married to Barack Obama.
Barack
Obama is married to Michelle Obama,
Obamacare is his signature policy
initiative, and was an intern at Sidley
Austin LLP.
R. Eden Martin is
counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and
the president of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
Newton N. Minow
is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
Byron D. Trott is
a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and a friend of Warren E.
Buffett.
Warren E. Buffett
is a friend of Byron D. Trott, a
trustee & major donor for the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard
G. Buffett & Susan A. Buffett’s
father, and an adviser for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
John
Deasy was a deputy director of education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a superintendent for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD),
and a board member for the Los Angeles
Fund for Public Education.
John
Deasy was a superintendent for the Los
Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and a deputy director of education
for the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Committee for Economic Development, the International Rescue Committee, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Warren E. Buffett
is a trustee & major donor for the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, a friend of Byron D. Trott, Howard G.
Buffett & Susan A. Buffett’s
father, an adviser for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank), and an advisory board member for Everytown for Gun Safety.
Everytown
for Gun Safety is a “Gun Safety,
Gun Control” group for guns.
Eli
Broad is an advisory board member for Everytown
for Gun Safety.
Michael R.
Bloomberg is the founder of Everytown
for Gun Safety, and was an advocate for the ONE Campaign.
International
Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE
Campaign.
Mark Suzman is a
director at the ONE Campaign, and
the president of global policy for
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Joe
Cerrell is a director at the ONE
Campaign, and a managing director, global policy & advocacy for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Committee for Economic Development, the International Rescue Committee, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
John
Deasy was a deputy director of education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and a superintendent for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
Roy R. Romer was a
trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, a superintendent for the Los
Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), and is Paul M. Romer’s father.
Andrea
Jung was a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development, and is
a director at Apple Inc.
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