Louisiana Voice

The nation’s “most transparent” and “most ethical” administration is becoming more transparent with each passing day but the ethical part is looking a little shaky.

A Hammond firm that has one $380,000 contract with the state and another to oversee a $20 billion claims fund resulting from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 men last April and spewed nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico hosted a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for Gov. Bobby Jindal on Tuesday of this week.

The $1,000 is just to attend the event. If one wanted to be listed as a “host,” the ante was $5,000.

Worley Catastrophe Response, which also has had contracts with the Louisiana Office of Risk Management, was the primary host, and even made its Hammond training facility available for the event.

The Louisiana Code of Ethics, which apparently does not apply to elected officials, forbids state employees from accepting gifts from vendors.

But not to worry. Worley CEO Mike Worley was careful not to push the envelope insofar as the state ethics laws are concerned. He contended the event was on the up-and-up and that no ethics protocol had been breached because the function was held after business hours.

Apparently Worley’s contracts are rendered null and void after 5 p.m.—or at least placed in a state of suspended animation.

And, of course, Jindal ceases being governor “after business hours.”

Horsefeathers.

This is simply another case of Jindal’s twisting the rules to suit his needs and apparently those needs are all monetary. His campaign already has $12 million in the bank with no opponent in sight. The only candidate even mentioned thus far, Caroline Fayard, attempted to self-destruct in Bogalusa earlier this week with some off-the-cuff venom directed at Republicans in general. To say anyone, even Republicans, “eat their young” is a bit over the top and likely not to play well in north Louisiana.

But back to Piyush and his new take on the code of ethics. Remember: he was fined $2,500 back in 2008 for his failure to disclose $118,000 in expenditures by the state Republican Party on his behalf.

And now he allows a fund raiser in his behalf to be hosted by a firm holding fat state contracts. And he sees no conflict of interest.

Beautiful. Just beautiful. Sometimes even smart people learn slowly.

“People who support us are supporting our agenda and not the other way around,” the governor said. Now, if someone could just tell us what he meant by that ….

“I’m a resident of the state of Louisiana, and I support the governor,” Worley said. Apparently that overrides any silly old ethics laws. Erlichman and Haldeman supported Nixon, too, not that we’re drawing any comparisons.

Jindal’s press lackey Kyle Plotkin said the governor saw nothing inappropriate about the fund raiser. “Obviously, the governor is running for re-election, and he wants the support of all people in Louisiana,” he said.

Jindal and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell in February filed papers in U.S. District Court in New Orleans asking a federal judge to oversee the oil leak claims process.

Louisiana Democratic Party spokesman Kevin Franck called the fundraiser a conflict of interest for the governor who he said “is essentially taking money from somebody who works for BP at the same time he’s supposed to be holding BP accountable.”

State Rep. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) was at a loss in trying to understand how Jindal did not see what Edwards said was a clear conflict in complaining about the claims process while attending a fundraiser at the headquarters of one of the claims adjusters.

He said Jindal should avoid any appearance of a conflict, regardless of whether or not he has an opponent. He added that because he has no opponent, however, “It may mean that he’s able to get away with it.”