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Troy sues, un-sues, sues again, Quinn threatens to sue publication; this is Louisiana politics at its sordid best

Posted in ATC, Elections, Lawsuits, Senate on October 4, 2016| 2 Comments »

First, Troy Hebert sued. Then he un-sued. Then he sued again.

Meanwhile, Julie Quinn is threatening to sue.

And the saga of the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC)—and by extension, the race for U.S. Senator, rolls on ad nauseam.

It’s the kind of macabre comedy only a Louisiana politics junkie could love.

Hebert, former ATC Director, is running for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. David Vitter. He is currently polling at somewhere around 0 percent, give or take a percentage point or two. (Well, in his case, you’d have to give.)

Quinn, now a New Orleans attorney, is a former State Senator. Right now she’s justifiably steamed.

Hebert first filed a lawsuit against Southern Media and Opinion Research poll and pollster Bernie Pinsonat because he was incorrectly listed as a Republican by the polling service. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/9/senate-candidate-troy-hebert-files-suit-against-po/

He was polling 2 percent at the time and his lawsuit said the poll was flawed and that “the system is definitely rigged against independent candidates.”

Considering how his numbers have since plummeted by two points, he may be right.

He subsequently dropped that suit in favor of filing yet more litigation to block a debate between candidates for Senate after he was excluded because of his (wait for it)….low poll numbers. http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/elections/article_b80928b4-899a-11e6-ac34-5befc9373f3f.html

Meanwhile, he sent LouisianaVoice an email recently in which he attached a link to a story saying that the FBI had ended its investigation of official wrongdoing. In his email, he asked that LouisianaVoice publish a story to that effect…and we did.

The story alluded to a story in CityBusiness magazine of New Orleans which indicated that LouisianaVoice relied on anonymous sources in its story about the FBI launching its investigation of Hebert. At the same time, CityBusiness, apparently citing its own anonymous sources, said that Quinn was apparently the source for the LouisianaVoice story.

Not only was CityBusiness dead wrong about our source, but it went even further in saying that Quinn, while dating former Jefferson Parish President and unsuccessful candidate for Lieutenant Governor John Young, was in competition with John Young’s brother Chris Young in representing clients in liquor license matters before ATC.

Chris Young, previously a lobbyist for the Louisiana Beer League, also represented clients in licensure matters before ATC. Both Youngs are attorneys and their sister was head of the New Orleans ATC office.

Chris Young was recently indicted for distributing child porn on his cell phone. The porn consisted of a video of a boy having sex with a donkey and Chris Young used the poor judgment of sending the videos to others, which was apparently the basis of the indictment.

But it didn’t end there. The FBI, it seems, rather than employing old-fashioned police work in its investigation of Hebert, tried instead to get to Chris Young to roll over on Hebert. When he refused, the FBI probe abruptly ended.

Now Quinn has her dander up and her attorney has fired off a scorching letter to CityBusiness Publisher Lisa Blossman calling its story “flat-out false” and “highly defamatory” and demanding an immediate retraction or face possible litigation.

Rather than go through the three pages picking out highlights, we decided to publish the letter-from-julie-quinn here.

After wading through all the interlocking relationships of brothers and sister, former fiancés, employees, a state agency head, legal representation, federal investigations, kiddie porn, media stories and political hacks , just one conclusion may be reached: Only in Louisiana could all this come together in a single story and still have the ring of truth.

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New David Duke joke: He thinks because Trump’s running strong for President, he is destined to win U.S. Senate race

Posted in Elections, Governor's Office, Politicians, Senate on October 2, 2016| 27 Comments »

David Duke is delusional.

David Duke is an idiot.

A couple of other facts about David Duke:

He is no longer considered dangerous.

He’s a loser.

He’s not a has-been; he’s a never-was and a never-will-be.

In a Washington Post story, he is quoted as saying “The fact that Donald Trump’s doing so well, it proves that I’m winning. I am winning.”

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/with-white-supremacists-drawn-into-political-mainstream-david-duke-declares-victory/ar-BBwNn7p?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

Not so fast, Sparky. It ain’t happening.

I also personally remain convinced that Trump will not win (and before you say it, let me be clear that I’m nowhere close to being a Hillary fan, either).

The latest revelations that Trump may not have paid ANY income taxes for 18 years after claiming a loss of almost $1 billion in 1995 should cripple him with those of us who do not have the financial resources to employ an army of tax lawyers and accountants to enable him to evade taxes. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-campaign-reels-after-disclosure-of-1995-tax-returns/ar-BBwUGBY?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

(No wonder he has not made his tax returns public.)

The fact that the Trump campaign responded to The New York Times report by saying Trump was a “genius” (and by his saying in last week’s debate that he was “smart” to avoid taxes) should be taken as an insult to the rest of us who are obviously too damned stupid and dumb to avoid paying our own fair share.

Duke, however, thinks because Trump is doing well in the polls, he will win in the ongoing lottery to succeed David Vitter in the U.S. Senate.

But even if Trump wins every single electoral vote out there, David Duke is NOT going to be Louisiana’s next U.S. Senator.

I am already on record with several friends as predicting no more than 7 percent for Duke. But after realizing there are 24 candidates in the crowded field and that there is already a Duke semi-clone (U.S. Rep. John Fleming) in the race, I am downscaling Duke’s support to 3 percent maximum. He will be competing with Troy Hebert, the erstwhile Director of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, for the 24th position in the polling.

And that anemic support is precisely why I don’t consider Duke dangerous anymore. He is simply a non-factor, no any longer even a mild curiosity.

That’s not to say the white supremacist movement is dead. Far from it. Trump’s support base is clear evidence of that sad fact. But for Duke to believe he can ride that sad tide into the U.S. Senate is pure fantasy. (As my disclaimer, I understand fully that not all of Trump’s supporters are racists. A large measure of his support consists of Americans who are disillusioned with government in general and both major political parties in particular.)

And they’re frustrated with a U.S. Congress that is bought and packaged by big money paid by big oil, big pharma, big banks and big business so that they may avoid and evade taxes, pass legislation that enriches them at the expense of the environment, healthcare, the economy and the American people.

But David Duke is apparently oblivious to the fact that his agenda is not attached to any of those issues.

He peaked when he ran for governor against Edwin Edwards in 1991. Remember that race? All the pollsters called it a tossup. I told co-workers at the Office of Risk Management that when voters entered that voting booth and closed the curtains, there would be no way they would pull the leaver for Duke. I said then Edwards would get 60 percent of the vote.

He got 61 percent.

Duke for U.S. Senate in 2016?

3 percent max.

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Native of Puerto Rico, resident of New Orleans, former hedge fund manager now taking on Scalise, political establishment

Posted in ATC, Campaign Contributions, Elections, Finances, House, Senate, PACs, Politicians, Senate, State Police on September 29, 2016| 9 Comments »

He’s a walkin’ contradiction, partly truth, partly fiction
Takin’ ev’ry wrong direction on his lonely way back home

(The Pilgrim—Kris Kristofferson)

It was the noon hour in Walk On’s on Poydras Street in New Orleans and a noisy lunch crowd was packed in as one of the flat screen televisions was demanding my attention with a re-play of the Boston Red Sox players celebrating their American League East Championship after two straight years of finishing dead last in the division.

I watched because the Red Sox have been my favorite team since Ted Williams won an American League batting championship with a .388 average in 1957 at age 38. I was 14 at the time. He retired in 1960, hitting a home run in his last at-bat. (My second favorite team is the Chicago Cubs: Dare I hope for a dream World Series between the two? Hey, it could happen.)

He walked into the Restaurant a few minutes late (after I had called to say I would be two hours late). Seeing him looking around for someone he’d never met, I signaled to him to let him know I was his lunch appointment. “Sorry I’m late. I made some money today,” he said as he slid into the booth.

Danil Ezekiel Faust is a candidate for Congress from Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District and he doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell because he has no money and he’s running against an incumbent (Steve Scalise) who has millions.

And that is precisely why he’s running.

The money he made was as an online trader

A Puerto Rican Irish Jew, Faust, a Democrat, is what Kris Kristofferson calls a walking contradiction: He is a former manager of an Arizona hedge fund who continues to play the market but who at the same time despises Wall Street and everything it stands for.

His hero also happens to be is favorite American President: Andrew Jackson. “They can take down those statues of Confederate soldiers, but not Andrew Jackson. The man took a bullet in the chest defending his wife’s honor. He was opposed to a National Bank…and he was right. He is a real American hero,” overlooking the fact that Jackson also signed into law the Indian Removal Act that stained America’s history with the Trail of Tears.

And like so many others, he insists there is entirely too much money in politics.

He also is a strong proponent of wind energy, a sure way to gin up substantial opposition (read: campaign contributions for his opponent) from the fossil fuel industry. He is pro-choice and an unabashed supporter of gay rights and equal pay for women.

And he keeps right on a-changin’ for the better or the worse
Searchin’ for a shrine he’s never found
Never knowin’ if believin’ is a blessin’ or a curse
Or if the goin’ up was worth the comin’ down

 “If I had the money to play on a level playing field, there’s no doubt I could win,” he said between bites of his heart-attack inducing bacon cheeseburger.

But he has no official organization. His campaign headquarters are in his former residence upstairs over the Three-Legged Dog at 400 Burgundy in the French Quarter. His business cards are from a computer program.

Most of all, though, he has no financial backing. Scalise, on the other hand, earlier tied by blogger Lamar White to a Ku Klux Klan event at which David Duke was the main speaker, has the Koch brothers and their Americans for Prosperity (AFP) pouring money into his re-election campaign through various Super PACs which, unfortunately drowns out the message of any underfunded opponent.

“AFP, I believe, held a big social event on the same night at Acme Oyster House right next door to Scalise’s headquarters,” he said.

No one can be heard over the roar of cash being poured into the campaign of an entrenched—and bought—incumbent. And there is no greater concentration of bought politicians than in the U.S. Congress.

Never mind that Scalise voted against federal funding to assist Super Storm Sandy victims in New Jersey but now is demanding federal funds for Louisiana’s flood victims. http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-louisiana-floods-20160822-snap-story.html

Faust, a native of Puerto Rico (take note, birthers: he can never be President), stopped temporarily in New Orleans en route to his intended destination—New York, where he planned to take a job with another hedge fund. But while in New Orleans, he fell in love. With New Orleans and its diverse culture “and its laid-back way of life.”

He took a job as a doorman at a French Quarter strip club. It was while working at that job that he began watching and listening. He learned some unforgettable lessons about the realities of life and the local power structure. In short, he knows where a lot of political skeletons are buried. “It was nothing for politicians and powerful businessmen to come into the club and drop $10,000,” he said.

He said the much-ballyhooed Operation Trick or Treat conducted a year ago by the Louisiana State Police (LSP) and the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) was a sham. The clubs that played ball and made the right political contributions were never investigated, he said.

He also said the LSP and ATC sweep in Operation Trick or Treat and a campaign to limit the number of strip clubs in the French Quarter was the idea of established strip clubs friendly with ATC’s then-director Troy Hebert “to keep down competition.”

So what made Danil Faust run?

“I kept hearing that David Duke was going to run,” he said. “But in the end, he got in the U.S. Senate race instead. I even heard Troy Hebert was running.”

Hebert, who also opted to join the crowded (24 candidates) Senate race, does not reside in the First Congressional District but in Louisiana, residency is not a requirement. (The First Congressional District, by the way, was used by Bobby Jindal as a springboard to the governor’s office.)

“Other than Scalise, no one is running for the office,” he said. Actually, there are seven candidates on the ballot, but like Faust, none of the other five challengers is given a chance in this election.

But that’s what happens when big money like the Kochs, George Soros, Donald Sussman, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Stephens, Hank Greenburg, and the Devos family, to name but a few, overpowers and corrupts the electoral process. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/superpac-donors-2016/

And no matter if his passion is Andrew Jackson, or if he works as a hedge fund manager, an advocate of wind power, a strip club doorman or a political candidate, Danil Ezekiel Faust remains his own man.

But if this world keeps right on turnin’ for the better or the worse
And all he ever gets is older and around
From the rockin’ of the cradle to the rollin’ of the hearse
The goin’ up was worth the comin’ down

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The misadventures of Troy Hebert: federal court rules he violated ex-agent’s privacy rights, may have defamed him

Posted in ATC, Corruption, Courts, Elections, Ethics, Governor's Office, Judges, Lawsuits, Media, Politicians, Public Records, Senate on September 13, 2016| 7 Comments »

It’s been more than a year since Troy Hebert showed up at State Civil Service hearing over his firing of former Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) agent Brett Tingle with five taxpayer-paid attorneys in tow.

That was the hearing from which Hebert tried unsuccessfully to bar LouisianaVoice only to be told a public hearing meant that it was…well, public. https://louisianavoice.com/2015/07/10/civil-service-hearing-for-fired-atc-agent-continued-to-sept-after-settlement-talks-break-down-troy-didnt-want-us-there/

It was during the proceedings that fateful day (July 10, 2015) that Hebert, then the ATC Director but now a minor (and boy, do we mean minor) no-show (as in the polls) candidate for the U.S. Senate, made such a big production of releasing the contents of private cell phone text messages by Tingle. https://louisianavoice.com/2015/09/27/troy-hebert-may-have-violated-state-constitution-in-releasing-contents-of-private-text-messages-in-effort-to-discredit-agent/

It was a move (mis)calculated to embarrass Tingle publicly and to weaken his appeal before the Civil Service hearing officer.

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, however, it was Hebert, Bobby Jindal’s fair-haired boy, who was dealt a little embarrassment. file:///C:/Users/Tom/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/CKN53EOO/2016%2009%2013%2032%20Order_Mo%20to%20Dismiss%20(003).pdf

U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles of Louisiana’s Middle District in Baton Rouge ruled that the privacy of Tingle’s cell phone was protected under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Fourth+Amendment and under  Article I § 5 of the Louisiana Constitution.  Louisiana courts have established that Article I § 5 provides greater protection of privacy rights than the Fourth Amendment. https://louisianavoice.com/2015/09/27/troy-hebert-may-have-violated-state-constitution-in-releasing-contents-of-private-text-messages-in-effort-to-discredit-agent/

At the same time Judge deGravelles, while dismissing some parts of Tingle’s lawsuit, left intact the most serious of the claims when he ruled that Hebert may have defamed Tingle on three separate accounts by:

  • Releasing the contents of the text messages;
  • Implying publicly that Tingle was in some way involved in the theft and burning of Hebert’s state vehicle when he said, if a person would “connect the dots,” it would be easy to determine who vandalized the vehicle;
  • Making statements about Tingle in his termination letter and in news releases.

deGravelle’s defamation ruling opens the door to Tingle’s seeking substantial monetary damages.

Because Tingle’s lawsuit is against Hebert personally and not the state, Hebert would be solely liable for any damage award if found liable.

Reached at his home Tuesday night, Tingle said he had not had a chance to read the six-page ruling but he had discussed it with his attorney, J. Arthur Smith, III. “I’m delighted at what I’ve heard,” he said.

Hebert has been the subject of several stories by LouisianaVoice over the past few years—ever since his appointment to succeed Murphy Painter as ATC head when the Jindal administration attempted to frame Painter on trumped up charges when he wouldn’t play ball with Stephen Waguespack and the rest of Jindal’s junior varsity team. https://louisianavoice.com/2014/10/24/another-embarrassment-for-jindal-ex-atc-commissioner-murphy-painter-wins-defamation-suit-against-his-accuser/

Besides his bizarre behavior in person-to-person dealings with his agents, he also has been known to assign a female agent to undercover drug enforcement in New Orleans bars and then to assign her to uniformed patrol at the same establishments the following week, a move that could have endangered her life.

He also transferred a black agent from New Orleans to Shreveport on a full time basis with less than a full day’s notice, supposedly as a way to force the agent’s resignation and was said to have confided in one of his white agents that he intended to force blacks out of the agency.

And then there was this story that LouisianaVoice broke last January: https://louisianavoice.com/2016/01/26/fbi-said-investigating-troy-hebert-for-using-office-to-extort-sex-from-woman-in-exchange-for-fixing-licensing-problems/

All in all, it’s not been a very good year for Troy Hebert who, in the last poll we saw, polled exactly 0%. You’d think that with 24 candidates in the race to succeed U.S. Sen David Vitter, Hebert would pull at least 1% just by accident.

Shoot, even our former governor, ol’ what’s his name, did better than that in his comical run for the Republican presidential nomination.

But for what it’s worth, Troy, if it came down to a choice between you and David Duke, we’d be out campaigning for you. Thankfully, however, it looks as though it may be between the two of you for 24th place.

 

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AG Jeff Landry joins Jindal, legislators in protecting big oil from cleanup responsibilities: follow the money for motives

Posted in Attorney General, Campaign Contributions, Ethics, Governor's Office, House, Senate, Judges, Lawsuits, Legislature, Legislators, Lobbyist, Louisiana Purchase, PACs, Politicians, Public Records, Senate on August 28, 2016| 10 Comments »

Cameron, Vermilion, Plaquemines and Jefferson are attempting to accomplish what Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East could not: hold oil and gas companies responsible for the destruction of Louisiana’s coastline.

On July 28, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry expressed his “disappointment” that Vermilion Parish had the audacity to file a lawsuit over damages to the parish coastline Vermilion District Attorney Keith Stutes said was caused by drilling activities of several dozen oil and gas companies.

Gov. John Bel Edwards and Landry, in a rare display of political accord, intervened in the lawsuit with Edwards asking the oil and gas industry to settle the litigation and to assist the state in footing the cost of restoring the cost, which is expected to reach tens of millions of dollars over the next half-century. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/28/vermilion-sues-oil-and-gas-companies-over-coastal-/

Calling lawsuits filed by Cameron and Jefferson parishes as well as Vermilion “counter-intuitive,” Landry said, “We cannot allow these differing and competing interests to push claims which collectively impact the public policy for our coast and our entire state.”

Two weeks later, on Aug. 10, Landry was practically effervescent as he all but took full credit when 24th District Judge Stephen Enright dismissed a similar lawsuit by Jefferson Parish. “I intervened in this lawsuit because I was concerned that the interest of the State of Louisiana may not have been fully represented or protected.

“I accept the court’s ruling because addressing the issues associated with permit violations through the administrative process is a cost-effective, efficient way to resolve any violations,” he said. “That was clearly the purpose of the Legislature creating this regulatory scheme.”

Funny how Landry would choose to use the word scheme.

Scheme, after all, would appear to be appropriate, considering how much money the industry has invested in campaign contributions to Louisiana politicians.

Copy of Campaign Contributions

And there’s certainly no mystery why Landry is so protective of the industry. In fact, he might be described as Jindal 2.0 because of his determination to protect the industry to the detriment of the citizens od Louisiana.

After all, of the $3.3 million Landry received in campaign CONTRIBUTIONS between July 1, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015 (during his campaign for attorney general), more than $550,000 came from companies and individuals with strong ties to the oil and gas industry.

Moreover, more than $600,000 in campaign contributions to Landry came from out-of-state donors, with many of those, such as Koch Industries ($10,000), one of America’s biggest polluters, also affiliated with the oil and gas industry.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-the-koch-brothers-toxic-empire-20140924

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2013/06/10/americas-20-worst-corporate-air-polluters/#10b98e794c70

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/climate-deniers/koch-industries/koch-industries-pollution/

(Koch Industries, by the way, with ties dating back to the right-wing extremist group, The John Birch Society—Fred Koch, Charles and David Koch’s father, was a charter member—has run afoul of federal law on numerous occasions, including fraud charges in connection with oil purchases from Indian reservations.) http://www.corp-research.org/koch_industries

One $5,000 donor, Cox Oil & Gas, was from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, according to Landry’s campaign finance records. That contribution date was May 20, 2014 but Cox Oil Offshore, LLC, Cox Oil, LLC, and Cox Operating, LLC, all of Dallas, contributed $5,000 each three weeks earlier, on April 28, 2014, those same records show.

Besides the Cox companies, Landry received more than $300,000 from firms and individuals from Texas, many of those from Houston and the surrounding area.

Landry, like Jindal and the bulk of legislators, has sold his soul to an industry that has ravaged our coastline, polluted our land and waterways, and failed to restore property to its original state when operations have concluded, all while reaping record profits and enriching stockholders.

LouisianaVoice has long adhered to the idea that there is far too much money in politics and that most of it comes from special interests. The reality is that citizens have long been removed from the political process.

If you don’t believe that, drop in on a House or Senate committee hearing on some controversial issue. Invariably, the issue will have already been decided by a quiet influx of special interest money and intense lobbying. As you sit and watch and listen to testimony of citizens, pay close attention because you will be the only one besides those testifying who will be doing so.

Watch the committee members. They will be checking emails or texts on their phones, talking and joking among themselves or just milling around, exiting the rear door of the committee room to get coffee—anything but listening to citizens’ concerns. Only on the rarest of occasions could a committee member give you a summation of the testimony.

The only time many legislators really take their jobs seriously is when they are discussing a bill with a lobbyist and that is unfortunate.

Once you’ve heard committee testimony go upstairs to the House or Senate chamber and take a seat in the front row of the spectator gallery. Observe how few of the senators or representatives is actually paying attention to the proceedings. The scene below you will underscore the adage that there are three things one should never see being made: love, sausage, and laws.

And while you’re at it, watch the lobbyists working the room. As you observe the absence of interaction between legislators and average citizens, do the math and deduce the way lawmakers are influenced. You won’t get far before you encounter the old familiar $.

Like him or not (and in Louisiana, it’s fairly accurate to say most don’t though they can’t give you a really sound reason why), President Obama pretty much nailed it when he was running for re-election in 2012.

Jane Mayer, in her excellent book Dark Money, quoted Obama from his speech in Osawatomie, Kansas (the same town where Theodore Roosevelt demanded in 1910 that the government be “freed from the sinister influence or control of special interests”), about the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision of 2010 and the ensuing glut of Super PAC money into the political arena:

  • “Inequality distorts our democracy. It gives an outsized voice to the few who can afford high-priced lobbyists and unlimited campaign contributions, and it runs the risk of selling out our democracy to the highest bidder.”

Meanwhile, Landry ramps up his war of words and political ideology with Gov. Edwards (perhaps in an effort to deflect attention away from his own flawed agenda). The most recent salvo was fired last week over the administration’s hiring of former Sen. Larry Bankston, a one-time convicted felon as legal counsel for the State Board of Contractors—never mind the fact that Landry also hired an employee formerly convicted of fraud for the attorney general’s fraud section. http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_fe56114c-6ad7-11e6-8e7e-6f06140ad60e.html

It would appear that in Louisiana, the state has long since been sold out to the highest bidder as witnessed by the combined efforts of Jindal, Landry, legislators, and the courts to protect big oil at all costs.

As further evidence of this, consider the words of Gifford Briggs, Vice-President of and lobbyist for the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA) in the run-up to the 2015 statewide elections immediately after Landry had indicated he might oppose then incumbent Attorney General Buddy Caldwell.

Asked if LOGA would support Landry, Briggs, the son of LOGA President Donald Briggs, said, “We can’t officially endorse any candidate. Our PAC can, but not us. Having said that, Jeff Landry is looking like a very good candidate for Attorney General.”

 

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