What at first appeared to be a slam-dunk sexual harassment case against former commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) Murphy J. Painter is beginning to look more and more like reprisals on the part of Gov. Bobby Jindal because of Painter’s refusal to acquiesce to administration demands involving several major Jindal campaign contributors.
It wouldn’t be the first time Jindal has fired a subordinate or demoted a legislator because he or she had the temerity to disagree with him, of course. But it would be the first time such tactics were employed in conjunction with criminal charges.
Painter was indicted—somewhat belatedly—on 42 separate counts of computer fraud in connection with his conducting criminal records, background and driver’s license checks on 35 individuals over a three-year period but never on the sexual harassment claims. Nor was he ever indicted on charges that he stalked or conducted surveillance on individuals—even though that claim was given widespread publicity by State Inspector General Stephen Street on May 28, 2012, the day Painter was formally indicted.
That indictment, coincidentally, came down only days after the legislature voted to strip Street’s office of all appropriations for the current fiscal year. Funding for his office was restored only after Street testified before legislators and repeated details of his office’s investigation of Painter as justification of continued funding, Painter says in his motion to dismiss the charges against him.
Painter’s trial on the federal charges is scheduled to begin on April 22. Meanwhile, he has separate civil suits pending against the state and against the woman who accused him of sexual harassment—after she told an OIG investigator that Painter had never harassed her.
We’ll return to the allegations, denials and counter-accusations in due course, but the real issues swirling around Painter appear to be rooted deep in Louisiana politics and back door deals as only a saga of Louisiana political intrigue and corruption can be told.
It was in late summer of 2010 when a series of events in New Orleans and Baton Rouge—unrelated to sexual harassment, computer fraud or surveillance—would culminate in a meeting in the governor’s office which would end Painter’s 34-year career in law enforcement, 14 of which he served as chief criminal deputy under former Ascension Parish Sheriff Harold Tridico.
After losing the 1995 sheriff’s race to current Sheriff Jeff Wiley by fewer than 700 votes, Painter was appointed ATC commissioner by then-Gov. Mike Foster in February of 1996.
New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson had purchased the 26-story building once known as Dominion Tower, or CNG Tower, a year earlier in September of 2009. The building is located across the street from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. As part of the deal struck between Benson and the state to keep the Saints from moving to San Antonio, the Jindal administration agreed to a 20-year lease of some 325,000 square feet of office space at $24 a square foot for various state agencies, some of whom were paying as little as $12 a square foot before being forced to move to Benson Tower.
At the outset, the state’s obligation was about $7.7 million a year, $2.6 million more than the $5.1 million the state was paying before the move.
Included in the Benson Tower purchase was a 60,000-square-foot plot encompassing a one-block section of LaSalle Street and part of what once was the New Orleans Centre shopping mall.
Champions Square opened on Aug. 21, 2010, with the Saints hosting a pre-season game against the Houston Texans. The facility provided a tailgate party atmosphere and gave up to 8,000 Saints fans who did not have tickets a place to hang out and party while cheering on the Saints.
Champions Square soon became the catalyst in the struggle that would erupt between Painter’s office, the governor’s office and Mercedes-Benz Superdome management firm SMG (formerly Spectacor Management Group). On the fringes of this growing dispute were parties who had more than a passing interest: Benson, the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District (LSED), Anheuser-Busch, brewers of Budweiser Beer, and local Anheuser-Busch distributor Southern Eagle Sales & Service.
LSED is a state political subdivision created to oversee operations of the Superdome, the John A. Alario Sr. Event Center, the New Orleans Arena, the Saints training facility, TPC Louisiana, and Zephyr Field, home of the Triple-A baseball team.
Benson, the seven LSED members (each of whom is appointed by the governor) and their families, businesses and business associates, SMG and Southern Eagle combined to contribute more than $203,000 to Jindal campaigns between 2003 and 2012.
In a lawsuit filed against Jindal, the State of Louisiana, the Department of Revenue and Taxation, its former secretary, Cynthia Bridges and Inspector General Street, Painter says that in May of 2010, some three months before Champions Square was officially opened, he met with representatives of SMG and its lobbyist about SMG’s request for a license to serve alcohol in Champions Square on Saints game days.
Budweiser and Southern Eagle stood to be the big winners if the license application was approved.
Painter says in his lawsuit that he informed SMG of several regulatory violations in its proposal and offered suggestions on bringing the proposal into compliance with state laws. SMG’s subsequent license proposal, however, failed to address a number of the problems Painter had outlined in their previous meeting.
When Painter rejected the proposal, SMG arranged a meeting between Painter and SMG attorney, Robert Walmsley, Jr., Painter says in his petition.
Walmsley is a member of the law firm Fishman, Haygood, Phelps, Walmsley, Willis & Swanson of New Orleans which also contributed $5,000 to Jindal’s campaign in October of 2008.
Walmsley, after meeting with Painter, agreed to provide “a written legal opinion to the ATC documenting how SMG’s proposal complied with, or was otherwise exempt from, Louisiana law,” the petition says.
That promised opinion was never provided to ATC, Painter or his counsel, according to the suit.
Within a matter of weeks, Painter was contacted by Jindal executive Counsel Stephen Waguespack, nephew of Ascension Parish Sheriff Wiley. Waguespack asked Painter to cooperate with SMG and to stop using ATC’s legal counsel to address concerns with the Champions Square project being pushed by SMG, Painter says in his petition.
Subsequent to that call, Walmsley sent Painter an email in which he outlined a purported rationale that would allow SMG to qualify for the sought after license but the email, Painter says, did not include Walmsley’s promised written legal opinion. The ATC legal counsel again advised that the SMG proposal did not satisfy legal requirements.
Painter advised Walmsley that the license would not be issued because SMG did not qualify for the proposed exception as had been suggested. Painter also advised SMG “that alternative legal means would be utilized to address any issues related to the forthcoming grand opening of Champions Square if a resolution was not reached,” according to the lawsuit.
Then, on Aug. 11, Waguespack again called Painter and advised that he, as executive counsel for the governor’s office, “saw no problem with issuing the requested license to SMG,” whereupon Painter said he would defer to Waguespack—if Waguespack was willing to issue a legal opinion in writing to the ATC as representing the governor’s position.
“The governor’s executive counsel refused and suggested that issuing such an opinion was not a good use of his time and/or position,” Painter says, adding that he understood from that conversation that he “was being ordered to issue the license requested by SMG in direct contravention of law.”
In more than 15 years as ATC commissioner, Painter said he had never received such a call from the governor’s office.
Painter and ATC again refused to issue the requested license and two days later, on Aug. 13, Painter was summoned to the governor’s office on the fourth floor of the State Capitol where he met with Waguespack, Louisiana State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson and another member of the governor’s legal staff.
Painter was advised that an unidentified law enforcement agency (later identified as OIG) was investigating him for alleged criminal violations, specifically sexual harassment, and that Jindal was asking for his resignation.
Painter said he asked if Jindal was asking for his resignation because it was his prerogative to do so or because of the criminal investigation and when informed it was because of the investigation, he refused to resign and was fired.
Despite, the manner in which his dismissal came about, it was subsequently reported to the media that he had resigned.
In what Painter described as another means of garnering publicity, an OIG investigator obtained a search warrant to search Painter’s office at ATC even though a previous investigation by the Department of Revenue had already cleared Painter of any wrongdoing.
The administration, through OIG, zeroed in on the sexual harassment charges for Painter’s former administrative assistant Kelli Suire. Suire did contact local news media in July of 2010 with claims of sexual harassment by Painter and on Aug. 6, an email purportedly sent from lindseyjarrrell@rocketmail.com to several media outlets outlined several complaints about Painter and ATC, including the alleged sexual harassment of Suire and that Painter stalked Suire by going to her home on several occasions. The email, Painter learned from his own investigation, originated from the Louisiana State Library near the State Capitol.
Painter also claims that Suire and ATC Deputy Commissioner Brant Thompson were cooperating with each other in efforts to undermine Painter’s authority.
Painter says he took his concerns to Thompson’s father, State Sen. Francis Thompson (D-Delhi) on Aug. 12 and the elder Thompson offered assurances that his son would cooperate with Painter in the future.
Painter then asked that Brant Thompson report to his office no later than Monday, Aug. 16, “to discuss his conduct and accept a suspension from his job duties.”
That meeting never occurred because Painter was fired the following day and Brant Thompson was appointed interim commissioner until the appointment of current commissioner Troy Hebert.
Almost a year before Painter’s dismissal, on October 16, 2009, Suire resigned her position at ATC. But three days later, on Oct. 19, Painter, on ATC business in Washington, D.C., received a call from his office informing him that Suire had been in his office for several hours that morning copying files, Painter says in a separate defamation lawsuit against Suire.
That suit was filed in 23rd Judicial District Court in Ascension Parish while his lawsuit against the state for wrongful firing was filed in 19th JDC in Baton Rouge. And while considerable coverage was given his firing and the subsequent charges of sexual harassment, minimal coverage has been given his lawsuits by Baton Rouge area media outlets.
Sometime following his Aug. 13 firing in 2010, Painter learned of a letter dated 11 days earlier, on Aug. 2, to LDR Deputy secretary Earl Millet, Jr. from Barry Kelly, assistant director of Revenue’s Criminal Investigations Division in which Kelly gave the results of his investigation of six accusations against Painter, including sexual harassment and stalking of Suire.
In that letter, Kelly said, an attorney was hired to conduct an investigation into the allegations and when questioned, “Ms. Suire admitted that there was no sexual harassment.”
Prior to that Aug. 2 letter, on March 29, the Department of revenue sent a letter to Suire reporting its findings. That letter said, in part, “The investigator met with yourself, Painter and other ATC employees. Based upon the information gathered during the investigation, LDR has determined Painter’s actions did not violate the LDR’s Anti-Harassment Policy…
“The finding is based upon information secured during your interview wherein you indicated Painter did not make unwelcome sexual advances toward you. You also indicated Painter did not request sexual favors or engage in verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature to you. Additionally, you also stated that your complaint against Painter was not one of sexual harassment.”
Despite that admission, the governor’s office, through OIG, proceeded with its investigation, accusing Painter of accessing the criminal records database 314 times in more than five years between February 25, 2005, and Aug. 13, 2010. Subsequent information obtained by Painter through legal discovery revealed that OIG received 1,063 complaints between June 20, 2009 and June 15, 2011 and determined that not all the complaints constituted a need for a law enforcement data base check.
Yet, during that same two-year period, three OIG investigators combined to access the criminal records database nearly 3,000 times—one of those more than 2,100 times.
Painter’s trial in federal district court in Baton Rouge on the computer fraud charges is scheduled for April 22.
And yet, despite the charges alluded to by Waguespack when he fired Painter, he has never been formally charged with sexual harassment, stalking or surveillance.
And charges of accessing the criminal records data bank 314 times over a period of more than five years—approximately five times per month—to most people would not appear excessive for the head of a law enforcement agency whose job it is to track criminal activity.
…Unless someone was looking for a reason to fire an uncooperative subordinate standing in the way of political expedience and opportunity—and inconveniencing campaign contributors.
Louisiana Voice 
This kind of crap just turns my stomach! The Thompson father and son team smelled blood and attacked like a couple of hungry alligators. One has to love the Baton Rouge owned media outlets, too. “Report as we say and do not investigate any different,” seems to be the norm.
What is it with the ATC office and their commissioners? For God’s sake, Jindal couldn’t find someone other than Lil Troy to appoint as the new commissioner? He’s a 12th grade educated spoiled little brat that bullies on the employees of the agency. La is going to hell faster and faster each day and the voters are driving the bus. Crazy!
Very interesting. I can see why you and Engster didn’t get into this on his show yesterday – it’s so complex it would be hard to adequately address even if it was the only subject of a program segment or the whole show, for that matter. We never know the whole truth about these kind of things. What we do know is there are always at least 2 sides to every story. I’ve only had limited direct contact with and knowledge of Murphy Painter, all related to his charitable acts. These left me with a positive impression of him.
Once again another outstanding reporting job Tom and it really makes you question the almost total, with the occasional exception of a couple of reporters, reason why we never hear any of this in media or print in Baton Rouge. Of course with the exception of the Advocate and Reveille, they’re all owned by Jindal lapdogs and the Advocate feels too much heat to report serious journalism especially when they’re trying to sell. All other news outlets already controlled by Jindal cronies. Painter is yet another consummate professional Jindal has ran off and replaced with a pompous buffoon with no understanding whatsoever of the job he’s supposed to be doing. But these guys love their little fiefdoms regardless of the damage it does to our state’s already dismal credibility. That’s Bobby’s ‘we’re not stupid anymore’ politics for you. Wish for two things – media grows some cojones and Murphy wins his lawsuit. Don’t forget to ask your reps and senators to support you instead of Jindal this session. Thanks for the great report!
While I don’t know Painter or the truth behind the details of any of the actions in the lawsuits, he was a political appointee and appointees serve at the pleasure of the governor, and can be fired for no reason at all, with no recourse. That’s just the way it is – to the victor go the spoils. The back-door, unwritten verbal approval sort of things described in the article has happened many, many times during this past 5 years in the upper eschelons of this administration. And as a result, many people have left on their own, been asked to resign or have been quietly let go, although most resign on their own rather than carry the stigma of being fired from such high level positions. Just like you addressed in your last article, most of the appointees in this administration were appointed to be hatchet men (and women), whether they knew it at the time or not, and if they won’t do what this administration wants “help” out a campaign contributor or to drop the axe on certain individuals or even an entire agency in order to outsource its functions to a campaign contributor, he will find and appoint someone else who will. And he has, as with OGB and OMR.
It just amazes me that the general populace don’t see or hear any of this, but yes, the media here, which is made up of all of roughly 2 entities – Mahship Inc and Raycom, is hugely complacent and notorious for being nothing more than stenographers of prepared speeches and issued statements. They research and investigate nothing that’s served up to them, and obviously the people of this state are exactly the type of non-inquisitive idiots that he told the RNC they should stop treating people as. The people of this state will wake up and realize what’s happened over this administration’s 8 years once it’s too late, once they realize they’re getting nothing from their state government because it’s all been outsourced or effectively dismantled. What people don’t seem to understand is that corporations are not held to the same standard that almost any level of government normally is, with the requirement of trasnparency and constant auditing. I know that publicly traded companies get audited, but it’s not at all the same, and it’s exactly why the state can’t function like a business – because there are laws dictating how people’s tax money is being used, and requires major documentation and transparency – there is not nearly as much of a requirement for the audits on the profits of a business that people buy from, say like Dell.
The scariest thing is that this administration still has 3 more years to pillage and plunder, ever increasing unemployment statistics and the number of people competing for jobs in the private sector.
So Mr. Painter was fired for doing his job.
That job being the enforcing of state law.
And Mr. Hebert was hired to make sure the Commissioner of ATC never did that job again.
I wonder what happened to the ATC legal counsel who advised that the SMG proposal did not satisfy legal requirements?
Perhaps that’s one of the 2 positions that is currently being held by the “acting” secretary (chief counsel) of LDR (which ATC is a part of), in order for him to be able to be paid over $200K/year. He must be awfully busy, holding down 2 jobs AND acting as the de facto secretary.
Probably not, but wow. I guess it’s a nice gig if you can get it.
My own digging has found that the attorney who was ATC legal counsel on the SGM proposal was transferred to the Department of Revenue shortly after Troy Hebert took over the agency.
That transfer came with one day’s notice.
Sounds like someone wanted him gone as well.
And that attorney was replaced as ATC counsel by Bodie White’s niece.
You just can’t make up stuff this good!
I am shocked, shocked I say that the most transparent and ethical administration in Louisiana history would do such a thing!
/sarcasm off
I met Murphy Painter when Gov. Foster appointed him to head up ATC. I remember well that legislators stood in line to extoll Painter’s virtues and you couldn’t find a soul who didn’t think highly of him. I also remember when the news came out of his being fired. The reaction of all legislators I heard was the same: “it can’t be true!” Murphy was and still is a straight arrow. He didn’t bend the rules for anyone and because of that he may have upset some people but he never lost their respect. This case is not different from that of many state employees who were steamrolled by a group of egotistical maniacs led by the maniac in chief Bobby Jindal.
This is just another symptom of the “Man behind the curtain.”
Jindal is just collecting puppets. His run for President will be as big a joke as Roemer. No need to bash our Governor….his actions are showing his character.
Unfortunately his actions are destroying our state infrastructure and ruining many good lives. I say BASH ON!
Yeah you rite!
Yes! Keep up the bashing!
For those of us who know Murphy Painter both personally and professionally there wasn’t a moment when we thought any of the charges were true. He was encouraged to fight, which he is doing and clearly needs to be exonerated. It is also clear that Murphy Painter was and is INCORRUPTIBLE and the governor’s office, was, is and will continue to be just the opposite.
Murphy Painter is very professional and has done nothing wrong. On the other hand our wonderful state would be much better off without a crooked govenor in office who is ruining our state. It is a shame that he lost his job because he was doing his job.
And I hope it continues to tank:
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/02/jindal_approval_ratings_dip_be.html#incart_river_politics
When Painter ran the ATC office, the agents knew where they stood and did their job accordingly. With Troy Hebert in office, no one knows where they stand because Hebert is only looking out for himself, “ego Leadership”.
Do ATC agents enforce the law any more?
With the reduced number of agents and having to travel from one end of the state to the other, being away from their families and the stress they feel from their overly abusive micromanagement leader Troy Hebert, I would have to say probably not!
But, if they are enforcing the law, one can only wonder about the amount of error-free in quality of a good investigation, inspections and enforcement of the law, which also applies toward administrative violations being issued as well.
Productivity is great but without quality and pride in the job that they do with less stress how can they effectively enforce the law….
Been There Knew That,
Is it safe to say that there may be in increase in “failure to properly display permit” tickets and a decrease in narcotic, prostitution, or gambling investigations?
In other words, an increase in chump change, stat making paper and a decrease in legitimate criminal investigations?
Not to mention he is adding another K-9 to the force. That’ll put us having 2 k-9s down here and none north of Baton Rouge. Screw the taxpayers up north. Funny, the agents are told to call the local law enforcement agencies if they come across synthethic marijuana and not work the case because of the amount of time it takes to do an investigation. Oh yeah, not to mention the agent will actually get in trouble because he or she will fall behind in their Troy Based System (TBS instead of PBS) and may not get their Lil Troy points at the end of the week. I was told Lil Troy has actually put out emails wanting to know why there is such a difference in ticket writing in different regions of the state. Why continue feeding Lil Troy’s ego with administrative tickets when he just gives the money to other law enforcment agencies like the State Police (his words)? I’m fairly sure LSP has been doing just fine without Troy Hebert.
TheDeepThinker,
Very good lawyer question and I am very familiar with that type of question being asked to me in a court of law. So, before “I” can answer if it’s safe or not, one would have to view the annual crime report and statistics relating to ATC if there is any (facts). Is it public record? if so will it be contaimnated? I don’t know. I can safely say this, speaking from 26 yrs of experience over 2 sergeants and 16 subordinates, poor morale leads to poor productivity, quality and over all poor decision making. Yes, that all leads to a decrease in legitimate investigations, “making up” stats, working only to get by, turning the blind eye to crime because if you get caught up in something that causes for further investigation knowing that if you act upon it, you will get in trouble for spending to much time in one place etc;. As for as the increase in chump change, hmmm? One can only speculate that going after retailers civilly is way better then criminally because the fine is big $$$.
A friend of mine owns a bar and when the agent came by to do the inspection, my friend tryied to ask legitimate questions. The agent told him that he didn’t have time because he was on a time schedule and since it involved synthetic marijuana he was told to call his local law enforcement agency. I covered for that agent because I know what he is going through and if he was reported to the commissioner he would be displined and/or terminated. I will not mention any names, but that is a prime example of what poor morale leeds to,,, a DECREASE in enforcing the law.
Could it be that he’s buying early votes, only a question. That way when he does make his future move he can go back to these agencies and say “Remember me” all what I done for you!
Unless you are one of a very select few, you’re damned either way. Do your job correctly and you’ll be called in for being parked in one place too long. Don’t enforce the synthethic marijuana law and refer it and it gets back, well, Hebert will declare he never gave that order as to refer those cases. All agents have to take offense to his comments he made on IND. com site. He said, coming in a kicking butt will result in getting crap on your boots. So he’s saying he’s kicking the crap out of the agents and it isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it. It’s unfortunate but true so far, to an extent. However, the Karma van was seen gasing up and heading towards Archieves Drive.
You are totally correct Been There Knew That about the morale issue. When you’re told you have an hour to complete an investigation, that hinders the entire investigation. Again, these orders are coming from a man that doesn’t have a clue how to do a criminal investigation. JB’s tongue in his ear doesn’t count as receiving advise from a seasoned investigator.
Folks, I know I’ve given some extensive coverage to Mr. Hebert and I understand the feelings expressed here. But isn’t this particular story about the way Murphy Painter is being railroaded by higher ups in state government–higher ups who have specific agendas and campaign contributors to protect? I think the discussion on this thread has gotten off topic.
Tom, of course you are correct.
But I think both the Painter issue and the Hebert issue are symptoms of a larger issue.
It’s not just that Jindal “Teagued” Painter, but it appears he has also allowed Hebert to shut down any true enforcement efforts.
That larger issue is just who is pulling Jindal’s strings?
We’re not finished looking at ATC under Hebert. And you, too, are correct: the two are intertwined and everything connects back to Jindal and his contributors.
We are far from finished. As I explained to Mr. Painter, we are in this for the long haul because no answers are going to be found in a single story. There are some underlying and very sinister reasons why he was thrown under the bus and it has absolutely nothing to do with sexual harassment or his computer criminal checks.
As always, one must follow the money.
Hypothetically speaking:
Jindal, Painter and Hebert having a conversation. Jindal tells them, the moon is made of cheese. Painter laughs and disagrees. Hebert is amazed and swears that the “Moon is made of cheese”.
Painter gets railroaded for standing his ground. Hebert gets his job….
A little humor doesn’t hurt however Hebert will take it seriously….
It would be ironic if Jindal’s run for president would come to a screeching halt due to the drama going on at ATC, one of the smallest departments in Louisiana State Government. The Murphy Painter story is a perfect example of what is wrong with Louisiana Politics and the Jindal Administration. Murphy Painter stood up for what was right and upheld the state law and was fired because of it. From what I have seen and heard it appears Jindal and this little Troy fella spend more time trying to circumvent the law than they do enforcing it. I applaud ATC, including Murphy Painter for standing up for what is right.
I’m laughing outloud at how right you are Been There Knew That…hypothetically speaking! I’m sorry about getting off the topic Tom. I hope Painter gets his name cleared and is able to slam Jindal and all of those that did this to him.
My apologies Tom….
Im not surprised Senstor Bodie White’s family has benefitted from this.
His sister is on politician’s payroll as well and he extorted BREC into buying and developing his and his partner’s land in Central. Look into the Central sports park fiasco. he has been involved in several shady dealings and I was unable to get the board of ethics to even investigate.
oh, and watch, his brother is poised to benefit from the merging of BRPD and EBRSO.
Someone needs to look into the fact that Thompson, who now works for the Fire Marshal’s Office, had Butch Browning resigning in world record time after he got to the office. Kinda looks like a hitman to me.
After a 15 year career, Murphy Painter was fired by Jindal’s administration because he was the subject of an investigation.
Jindal appointed Troy Hebert as Commissioner of ATC.
So far I have seen, read and heard about:
Hebert violated his agents personal Values, RIGHTS.
He has failed tp provide for the safety of his agents.
He has failed to ensure a comfortable and professional work climate for the agency.
He is stead fast failing to maintain the Integrity and Reputation of the agency.
And from what I have read and heard he can’t stay out of legal trouble.
It took 15 years for Painter to get an investigation on him and was fired.
Hebert has only been in office for 2 years. Now! What the hell is wrong with this picture……
Sorry Tom for the French…
There’s a Cassidy on ATC payroll, as well.
Moon Griffon said it pretty well today.
Jindal will not do what is right. (Or what is best for Louisiana?)
Jindal (and his appointed cronies) will do what is best for Jindal’s political and financial backers.
I think this particular issue with Painter and SMG illustrates that point perfectly.
There must be some fine line that the Jindal administration doesn’t cross. It would seem that any other Governor would have been indicted by now but for some reason he gives away public property (OGB) fires people who won’t break the law, passes legislative acts illegally (all retirement legislation overturned by district judges as unconstitutional. But the public just keeps on worshiping Jindal as if he were saving Louisiana instead of destroying it.
I know that the Saints are a valued commodity and that they bring some business to the city of New Orleans but can we afford them? There were some heads that rolled in opposition to the last deal where Jindal gave Dominion Tower (now Benson Tower) to Tom Benson. Louisiana is doubling rents previously paid for office space in New Orleans as part of the deal. Somewhere along the line someone forgot that it’s our money being given to Tom Benson that could have been used in other areas of need in this tight budget. Where is the so called liberal media when it comes to these inside deals?