Louisiana Voice

It was nearly 53 years ago that Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire special prosecutor Archibold Cox. Richardson refused and resigned, effective immediately. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshous to give Cox the ax. Ruckelshaus likewise refused and like Richardson, resigned in protest.

Thus was lit the fuse that burned through the Watergate coverup which led in turn to Nixon’s own eventual resignation. Known as the Saturday Night Massacre, it sparked public outrage that Nixon was never able to overcome.

Now we have the firing of federal prosecutor Maurene Comey in Trump’s own seemingly desperate attempt to keep from the public information contained in the Epstein files that Attorney General Pam Bondi insists don’t exist after saying just a couple of months ago that the files were on her desk.

I may be getting nostalgic in my old age, but I can’t help but feel that the firing of Comey bears a striking resemblence to what occurred half-a-century ago. The question then is this: are we about to witness a similar erosion of trust that took nearly two years to finally bring Nixon down now begin a slow but certain march to a similar fate for Donald Trump?

Nixon was a master politician but even he couldn’t survive the “cancer on the presidency,” as John Dean described it to Nixon at one point. Trump, too, is a survivor, a master at turning certain defeat into victory but can he dodge yet another bullet when even his own MAGA base seems to be turning on him over this issue? They are convinced there’s something in those Epstein files that “don’t exist” and they’re equally convinced, as are a lot of Democrats, that Epstein did not commit suicide in that jail cell. Trump calls those people stupid. That might not wear well with the Maghats.

If Trump is not on those files or client list or whatever it may be, it would seem reasonable that he would want the information out there. After all, he campaigned with that as one of his central issues. But if his name is somewhere in that “non-existent” information, he certainly would have every reason to want it kept from the public.

It’s only right that people are demanding straight answers.

The first time I heard the word “duality” was from southern comedian Brother Dave Gardner way back in the 1960s. I had never heard the word before and certainly had no idea what it meant until he explained it.

The Oxford Dictionary defines the word as “an instance of opposition or contrast between two concepts or two aspects of something.”

Brother Dave was more simplistic. It was, in his words, like heaven and hell; love and hate.

Accordingly, I submit that Donald Trump’s White House Faith Office and the very concept of Christianity constitute the best example of dualities on the face of the earth.

The Christian Post, an online Christian news blog to which I subscribe to POSTED THIS STORY this morning. I assume they did so as a way of telling us how God-like this administration must be but I gotta tell you, it almost comes off as a parody written by The Onion rather than a serious attempt at advocating any hint of reverence in this gang of text-book hypocrites. (To read the entire story in the link above, you will have to click on the successive numbers at the bottom – for some reason, the story is posted in five separate parts rather than as one continuous story.)

But back to this duality of an administration.

My grandfather used to rail against those he referred to as hypocrites. I shutter to think what he would think of this bunch of con-men (and women). They are the very epitome of hypocrisy.

To illustrate my assertion, I suggest that you read the following:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/16/politics/us-destroy-500-tons-us-taxpayer-funded-food and

When babies starve to death because of the deprivation of available food, their deaths will be on the hands of the so-called Christians currently occupying the White House, aka the People’s House.

If that isn’t enough to turn your stomach (and your heart), I’ll leave you with this video. Be sure to make sure the sound is on and that you watch it in its entirety – especially those of you who are convinced that Donald Trump is the answer to this nation’s problems.

I will add this thought: If you can still support the inhumanity of this monster after this, then we know that the problem really isn’t Trump, after all.

We see it every day. Someone posts something on social media that gets their derriere in a bind.

Someone says something about an individual that blows up in their face. It can be an email or some major indiscretion on Facebook or X.  A petty criminal posts a display of the booty he’s stolen; stupid people strut on camera, waving guns and boasting of their prowess as little more than thugs. More often than not, all those bad decisions have unhappy endings.

But there apparently is another oversight that lands one in a peck of trouble: failure to make sure your mute button on a conference call.

That appears to be what happened to Blake LeBlanc during a July 10 Zoom call being hosted by the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH).

LeBlanc, Director of Mental Health for the Department of Corrections, unaware that his mic was not muted, uttered a racial slur, including use of the N-word, that was audible to everyone on the call, including one individual who is African American.

LeBlanc, whose salary was given as $118,435 per year, was immediately placed on suspension pending the results of an investigation.

Dr. Pete Croughan, Deputy Secretary of LDH, sent an email to that agency’s employees Thursday night, stating that a racial slur was heard on the call.

“Following this afternoon’s joint call, we received multiple reports of inappropriate language, including a racial slur, used by a participant on the call,” Croughan said in an email to LDH employees.

LouisianaVoice made a public records request for information about LeBlanc, including his title and salary but as is becoming the norm, DOC appears to be stalling. We received an email from Kelly Stone Liebert, administrative coordinator (whatever that is) for DOC that said, “Please see the attached acknowledging the receipt of your request. Our Communications Director, Tiffany Dickerson, should be reaching out to you soon.”

That was on Monday. Tiffany has yet to “reach out” to us.

The “attached” informed me of “thirty-nine (30) exemptions to the Public Records Law, leaving us somewhat confused as to whether it’s 39 or 30 exemptions.

But the real clincher was in the next-to-last sentence: “The Department anticipates that it will take at least 3-4 weeks for us to gather the requested information and respond to your request.”

Huh? Three to four weeks? Obviously, the information would be useless by then – and they know that. So much for transparency and accountability. The Public Records Law clearly states that records must be made available immediately unless they are in use in which case, the custodian must notify the requester (us) as to when the records will be available within three working days.

Once upon a time, there was a provision for fines of up to $100 per day for non-compliance but our conscientious legislators and governor expunged that little item, which gives state agencies license, even encouragement to stall, as DOC is now doing.

Here is that letter:

                                                              July 14, 2025

Tom Aswell

Re:       Your Request for Public Records Directed to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections

Dear Mr. Aswell,

Your public records request, dated July 11, 2025, was received by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Please be aware that the Department recognizes and will not produce documentation falling within the thirty-nine (30) exceptions given in Title 44 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes. The Department anticipates that it will take at least 3-4 weeks for us to gather the requested information and respond to your request.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Thank you,

Kelly Stone Liebert

Administrative Coordinator 4

Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections

P. O. Box 94304, Baton Rouge, La 70804

Ph.: 225-342-6743