In Pierce's Past, Seeds of His Failure at HUD From: The Washington Post | Date: July 26, 1989| Author: Howard Kurtz | Copyright 1989 The Washington Post. This material is published under license from the Washington Post.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post.Copyright information

n the summer of 1966, Samuel R. Pierce Jr., then a member of a blue-chip Manhattan law firm, called a news conference to talk about financial mismanagement at a Harlem antipoverty agency.

The agency, called Haryou-Act, had been rocked by allegations that it misspent federal funds, failed to pay taxes and awarded wasteful consulting contracts. Its leaders had turned to Pierce, a former prosecutor and judge who served on its board, to head an internal inquiry that might salvage its rep...