Members of the Bush Administration have once again been caught strong-arming government officials into abiding by their policies.  In an email exchange, two top political appointees at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) discussed ways to make the life of Philadelphia's housing director Carl R. Greene miserable after he refused a request to transfer a $2 million piece of city property to a business friend of the HUD Secretary.

"Would you like me to make his life less happy? If so, how?" Orlando J. Cabrera, then-assistant secretary at HUD wrote about Philadelphia housing director Carl R. Greene.

"Take away all of his Federal dollars? : D" responded Kim Kendrick, an assistant secretary who oversaw accessible housing.

Cabrera wrote back a few minutes later: "Let me look into that possibility."

The same day these e-mails were sent, Kim Kendrick notified the Philadelphia housing authority that it violated rules which require five percent of housing to be accessible to disabled residents. HUD later stripped the housing authority of $40 million in federal funding (13 percent of their budget) because they refused to acknowledge the mysterious violation.

The emails, dated January 2007 and uncovered by the The Washington Post, emerged from a lawsuit brought by Green and the Philadelphia housing authority against HUD's decision in September 2007 to withdraw the federal funds.  The lawsuit accuses HUD and Jackson of manufacturing problems in the housing authority's performance in order to punish Greene for not cooperating.

Predictably, HUD continues to argue publicly that the decision to withhold funds from the Philadelphia housing authority was in no way connected to the demands by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson to turn over the city lot to Kenny Gamble, a friend of Jackson's.

Greene sent copies of the e-mails to Senators Arlen Specter (R) and Robert P. Casey Jr. (D) of Pennsylvania this week, calling the emails evidence of HUD's retribution. 

Senator Casey said in an interview that he found the "smiley face" used by Kendrick particularly galling. "It's a symbol of the arrogance that pervades the e-mail," Casey said.

Yesterday, Jackson testified about the matter and other HUD business before the Senate Banking Committee.  Unfortunately, Jackson refused to discuss the case in front of Congress, arguing that the ongoing legal case had not yet been made public.