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Major development: Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne has change of heart; will endorse John Bel Edwards at LSU on Thursday

November 4, 2015 by tomaswell

In the wake of his disappointing finish in the October 24 primary election, largely attributable to some of the most vicious attack ads by second place finisher David Vitter, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne announced that he would not endorse either of the candidates in the Nov. 21 general election.

That appears to have changed now.

Democratic State Rep. John Bel Edwards, who led the field in the primary election with 40 percent of the votes cast, has scheduled a special press conference for 9 a.m. Thursday (Nov. 5) at Free Speech Alley in front of the student union on the LSU campus.

Both the Baton Rouge Advocate and nola.com have posted online stories saying that Dardenne will be announcing his endorsement of Edwards at the press conference.

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/11/jay_dardenne_edwards_endorseme.html

http://theadvocate.com/home/13888680-125/sources-jay-dardenne-ready-to

That would be a major coup for Edwards. In addition to the 444,517 votes cast for Edwards, Dardenne, who finished fourth in the primary election, received 166,656 votes. Between the two, that accounts for 611,173, or 54.8 percent of the 1,114,336 votes cast.

Vitter has captured the consolation prize of former Gov. Mike Foster’s endorsement.

But perhaps voters should remember that Foster is the one guilty of foisting Bobby Jindal upon the unwitting Louisiana populace. Based on that unenviable legacy, his endorsement could prove counterproductive to Vitter.

Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle placed third with 214,982 votes. So far, he has not endorsed either candidate for the runoff election but he was also the subject of the same attack ads as Dardenne.

Vitter is not making any new friends with his new wave of misleading attack ads, this time aimed at Edwards. Filled with distortions and outright lies about Edwards’s voting record as a legislator, the early ads have already backfired.

After a spate of ads claiming that Edwards planned to release 5,500 hardened criminals from prison, the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association promptly endorsed Edwards. (Edwards actually called for prison reform that would offer rehabilitation to non-violent offenders, thus reducing the prison population for a state that has the highest incarceration rate in the world—higher even than Russia, Iraq, Iran, and every other country on earth.)

Dardenne, for his part, said his position on offering his endorsement “evolved over time,” according to nola.com. He and Edwards have kept the lines of communication open since the primary election and Edwards has repeatedly, even during the campaign leading up to the Oct. 24 primary, referred to Dardenne and Angelle as honorable men and “dedicated public servants.”

As for Vitter, when the state’s senior U.S. Senator said during one of his rare debate appearances that Edwards had voted for President Obama, Edwards replied, “Yes, I did vote for Obama but I never voted for David Vitter.”

Dardenne’s endorsement is significant in two ways:

It is extremely rare for a Republican to endorse a Democrat, or vice-versa, and

It sends an unmistakable message to his supporters that his brand of dirty politics is beyond the pale, even for Louisiana.

And while the Republicans in the Louisiana House have voted to endorse Vitter—no surprise there considering the gutless servitude to Jindal during his eight pitiful years in office—the Senate Republicans in so many words told its House counterparts to take a walk.

Vitter must be feeling the early symptoms of panic.

Posted in Elections, Governor's Office, Legislature, Vitter | 22 Comments »

Guest columnist shows 90% of Vitter Super PAC costs were for trashing GOP opponents, lining staff members’ pockets

November 4, 2015 by tomaswell

(Special to LouisianaVoice)

By MARK JOYCE

The Fund for Louisiana’s Future (FLF) is funded by David Vitter and his supporters. FLF shares staff and resources with the Vitter election committee. FLF has spent the bulk of its funds trash talking other Republicans.

  • FLF is a political organization registered with the Federal Elections Commission as a federal independent expenditure-only committee, commonly referred to as a “Super PAC,” and also registered with the Louisiana Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure as a state “political committee.” [1]
  • FLF is supporting David Vitter by bashing his opponents. The PAC produces no ads telling voters why they should vote for Vitter, only ads trying to damage the reputations of anyone running against him. (Note: The single exception is $3,000 for media buys for the Insurance Commissioner. This is the single instance of FLF saying something nice about a Republican.)
  • The single biggest contributor to FLF was “David Vitter for US Senate” to the tune of $950,000.
  • Charles Spies, the lawyer, who founded FLF and is now the Treasurer of FLF, is employed by Clark Hill in Washington, DC. Clark Hill has received more than 10% of all FLF expenditures to date or over $400,000. In 2014, Mr. Spies swore that:
  • FLF does not and will not make contributions to, or coordinated expenditures on behalf of, candidates or political party committees that all decisions concerning expenditures of FLF’s funds are made independent of any candidate, campaign, party committee, or their agents.[2]
  • Joel DiGrado, executive director of FLF is also Vitter’s communications director and the owner of Briefcase Strategies LLC. Briefcase Strategies LLC has received $96,357.03 from FLF so far in 2015.
  • Courtney Guastella (Callihan), ex-Finance Director for “David Vitter for US Senate,” is the current Finance Director for Vitter and the go-to person for various fundraisers for Vitter. Her home address is 6048 Marshall Foch Street, New Orleans. That just happens to also be the mailing address and registration address for FLF. Courtney has received $205,000 from FLF in the last few years for “fundraising consulting” as well as $145,000 from Vitter’s campaign. That comes to a grand total of $350,000 from the two organizations over the same period. Courtney is FLF’s highest paid individual consultant. (Remember that the FLF PAC and Vitter (campaign) teams are supposed to be independent and not collaborate. Yet the highest paid FLF staff person is also a six-figure consultant to Vitter’s campaign).
  • In April 2015, Nicole Licardi joined FLF and is now FLF’s Finance Director. Licardi has a long history with and is still a fundraiser for Bill Cassidy. Since April 2015, FLF has paid her $78,111.62 or about $12,000 per month.
  • As of November 1, FLF (Vitter’s hatchet boys and girls) spent one-third of all contributions to date or $2,342,343.71 on media across the state to belittle and trash talk Republican candidates Dardenne and Angelle (who, many agree, were the much better candidates). Vitter is now asking for their support. Breaking that down a little further and assuming their spending patterns continue:

FLF EXPENDITURE BREAKDOWN

More than half the $6 million contributed to FLF went for:

  • Lining staff pockets (Spies, DiGrado, Guastella, and Licardi – $1 million.
  • Trash talking other Republicans (Dardenne and Angelle) – $2.3 million.

FLF spent seven times the money slamming Republican candidates as opposed to slamming Democrats and others.

Does it make sense for good Republicans to contribute to an organization that spends the majority of their funds slamming other Republicans?

Shameful.

The bottom line is that obviously, sleazy money is corrupting the system and not giving Louisianans the choices they deserve. What ex-supporter of Dardenne or Angelle would vote for Vitter now?

This is no way to run our state.

Louisiana taxpayers were forced to contribute $70,000 in legal fees to FLF to help Vitter raise the cap on amounts of money from out-of-state interests. That amount was the legal fees awarded FLF after it won its lawsuit against the Louisiana Board of Ethics. FLF uses that money to denigrate good Louisiana public servants. Republicans contributing money to be passed to people to beat up on Republicans. In what world does this make sense?

This is the first in a series of three articles as we pull back each layer and trace each link. To demonstrate openness, next week we have decided to release our complete databases – the entire contents of all our databases – in machine-readable form, all the results, all the tools & techniques for, a user’s guide, a guide to contributors and expenditures entities and all our results free of charge to anyone who wants them. One week from today. Complete unfettered access and they can download the entire data set. No charge. No registration.

Anyone can do his or her own research.

This information was gleaned from publicly available federal records, Louisiana Ethics Board reports and other publicly available sources. Corrections and comments are welcome. The authors believe in a fair and open debate based on the facts. What could be easier?

 

[1] The Fund For Louisiana’s Future v. Louisiana Board of Ethics et al, No. 2:2014cv00368 – Document 38 (E.D. La. 2014)

[2] Ibid

Posted in Politics | 10 Comments »

Hayride credibility shot; rabidly conservative political blog on Vitter payroll at $1K per month: ‘a lot like prostitution’

November 3, 2015 by tomaswell

“That seems a lot like prostitution, don’t you think?”

When LouisianaVoice held its recent fundraiser, one elected official donated $250 to us from his election campaign.

Because we have never laid claim to being objective but we do pride ourselves in our independence, we thanked the donor for his generosity…and returned the money. We explained that while his support was appreciated right down to our very bone marrow, we felt it would not be good for him—or us—should someone delve into his campaign expense report and discover that he was sending us money.

In politics, as with anything with the word ethics attached to it, perception is everything and the last thing we wanted to give the appearance that we were beholden to any candidate. We may—and do—support political candidates, but we reserve the right to be critical of any policy with which we might disagree. Accepting payment from an elected or appointed official strips us of our ability to view that official objectively and to report what needs to be reported.

Republican State Senators Dale Erdey of Livingston and Danny Martiny of Metairie are examples of elected officials with whom we generally agree but with whom we have occasionally had our differences. Likewise any number of other members of the Louisiana House and Senate.

While Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle was roundly criticized for leaving his position as Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources in the wake of the Assumption Parish sinkhole at Bayou Corne, we vigorously defended him and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne from the merciless attacks of Diaper Boy Dave Vitter in the weeks leading up to the recent gubernatorial primary election.

Which brings us to the subject of Vitter who finished a distant second to State Rep. John Bel Edwards and is now launching one of the most vicious smear campaigns in recent history in a desperate effort to woo Dardenne and Angelle supporters in order to overcome the huge Edwards lead. Perhaps the sting of those unwarranted attacks have caused Dardenne and Angelle to thus far refuse to endorse a candidate in the runoff.

Usually, the losers to a candidate of the same party would support that candidate in a race against someone from the opposing party. Not this time and that sends a not so subtle message to their supporters: if the Republican leader is not worthy of the support of two Republicans who failed to advance, perhaps their supporters might consider looking elsewhere.

That is the dilemma facing a desperate Vitter who is on the verge—like Edwin Edwards in 1987—of losing the first political race of his life. Edwards avoided that fate by withdrawing from the runoff, giving the governorship to Buddy Roemer but did eventually lose his first race last year when he sought the Sixth Congressional District won by Garrett Graves.

We make no secret of our distaste for Vitter but we have taken our position free of charge.

Not so with Scott McKay.

McKay is the publisher of The Hayride political blog which has for some time now received income (we presume) from a series of really cheesy, thinly-disguised “news stories” (advertisements, really) for such things as a biblical cure for cancer, sure-fire riches via questionable schemes, scary stories about imminent collapse of world financial markets and ways to protect your wealth, etc.

And while we have refrained from openly criticizing his blog because we feel he has the same right as we to express his views openly and without reprisals, fellow blogger Lamar White today (Tuesday, November 3) revealed that Vitters’ campaign expense reports reveal that he has paid Hayride Media, LLC of Baton Rouge $1,000 per month since last February.

That’s $8,000 total to someone who should insist that his blog remain above reproach in the interest of any shred of credibility he may have.

We have long suspected that Bobby Jindal’s organization was somehow funneling money to The Hayride, but could never find proof that was the case. Vitter, however, is a different story. Thanks to Lamar White and his blog, CenLamar, we now have that proof of the latter’s support. http://cenlamar.com/2015/11/03/david-vitter-pays-controversial-blogger-1kmonth-to-attack-john-bel-edwards-as-a-treasonous-terrorist-in-al-Qaeda/

To further demonstrate just how low this campaign has sunk, thanks to Vitter and his now-revealed media mouthpiece, here is a tweet from McKay, also provided by CenLamar:

12122755_10100305564922271_8600061212285523052_n

 

Vitter is now like Jimmy Swaggart, according to McKay—an undesirable but a clear preference to Edwards, who McKay compared to American-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki.

Folks, this is insidious—and despicable. McKay has single-handedly plunged this campaign into the depths of his own personal sewer.

If this is the type person you prefer to listen to, then we can only express our sympathies that you are this shallow, this narrow-minded, this bigoted. McKay’s tweet borders on the psychopathic, the anti-social fringe element of society.

The irony is that they believe they are advancing Christian principles when in reality what Vitter—and McKay—are saying is about as far removed from the teachings of Christ as anything any member of….oh, say Isis, could utter. (Yes, that is extreme and a bit overblown, but we were hard pressed to find a comparable hate group with which to compare them other than the old John Birch Society or the KKK.)

On the hate meter, McKay’s tweet ranks right up there with General Phil Sheridan who, in January of 1869, when Comanche Indian Chief Toch-a-Way (Turtle Dove) said, “Me Toch-a-Way, me good Indian, replied, “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.”

Where is the humility, the love for others, the help for those less fortunate, the forgiveness? It’s not there. Instead, we have a paid shill for Vitter comparing an honor graduate of West Point and an 82nd Airborne Ranger leader to a terrorist.

Edwards, in Denham Springs Tuesday morning for a campaign appearance, was asked by LouisianaVoice about White’s revelation that McKay was on Vitter’s payroll, responded, “That seems a lot like prostitution, don’t you think?”

We couldn’t agree more.

And we’re not being paid to say it.

 

Posted in Ethics, Governor's Office, Media, Politicians | 12 Comments »

LouisianaVoice to host a special ‘Goodbye Bobby’ party two days before Jan. inauguration at site, time to be determined

October 31, 2015 by tomaswell

Dedicated reader, regular commenter, and occasional guest columnist Earthmother has come up with a great idea for Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016: A “Goodbye, Bobby” party to be hosted by LouisianaVoice two days before Bobby Jindal leaves office on Monday, Jan. 11, to fade (hopefully) into political oblivion.

Anyone and everyone who wishes to attend is welcome—especially recovering Republicans. We are an open, informal group. Unlike the Jindalites, we exclude no one. To do so would necessarily define us as elitist Republicans.

We don’t have a 12-step program for Republicans, but we can offer our sympathy, compassion and fellowship.

While the festive event will be in Baton Rouge, no site has yet to be chosen as the size of the venue will be determined by the cost and the number of reservations for the event. (We understand there will be a similar event for Jindal supporters—to be held in a supply room in the offices of Jimmy Faircloth.)

Disclaimer: should David Vitter capture the governorship in his general election runoff with John Bel Edwards on Nov. 21, the theme of the event will be changed from a celebration to a wake but will still be held to commemorate the departure of one of the worst governors in the storied political history of Louisiana.

Special guests will include other Louisiana political bloggers who have had the courage to take on Jindal’s disastrous “reform” measures and any public servant or legislator who carries the badge of distinction of ever having been teagued by Jindal.

Jindal, Timmy Teepell, and Kristy Nichols will be invited, though we really don’t expect them to attend.

Refreshments will be available and prizes will be awarded to attendees with the most original themed costume. Some suggested examples: higher education, public education, health care (Medicaid and state hospitals), state employee benefits (retirement and OGB), contracts (example: Jimmy Faircloth), campaign contributions/board appointments, favored legislation for certain retirees and campaign contributors (example: Mike Edmonson, Tom Benson, broadband internet service), appointments to state jobs (example: Noble Ellington), and privatization.

A special prize will be awarded to the best Jindal and Teepell look-alike costumes.

With the exception of bloggers and those who have been teagued (not simply laid off, but fired for incurring Jindal’s wrath over some perceived sin), there will be a small admission price to cover expenses of venue rental, refreshments, entertainment, etc. Admission cost will be determined when we have a better handle on our costs and the number of people expected to attend. We will let you know the cost as the date approaches but tickets are not expected to exceed $10 or $15.

While walk-ups will be welcomed, we ask that you reserve your spot in advance so that we can make appropriate plans. To do so, simply shoot an email to: louisianavoice@yahoo.com

Posted in Governor's Office | 13 Comments »

S.C. incident not unique; Louisiana State Trooper fired after slamming injured suspect in head with butt stock of shotgun

October 28, 2015 by tomaswell

The video of Richland County (South Carolina) deputy sheriff Ben Fields as he flipped a female student backward in her desk and then tossed her across a classroom is a jarring reminder of the seemingly endless barrage of cases of police appearing to use unnecessary force on victims who dare not resist for fear of even more grievous actions.

The student was texting in class and refused to surrender her phone to the teacher. While also indicative of the perceived breakdown of respect for authority in the classroom (there are likely as many cases of students assaulting teachers as officers assaulting students), Fields’s reaction seems a tad over the top. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/lawyer-teen-suffered-several-injuries-in-classroom-arrest/ar-BBmwylc?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=iehp

On Wednesday, Fields was fired by Sheriff Leon Lott. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sheriff-school-officer-fired-after-tossing-student-in-class/ar-BBmwylc?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=iehp

Had I blatantly disobeyed any of my high school teachers (male or female) the consequences would have been quite severe—at school and again when I got home. I knew hulking football players at Ruston High who were terrified of Miss Ruth Johnson and would never have given even so much as a fleeting thought of challenging her.

Clearly, some common ground must be reached between respect for authority and discipline to be meted out in cases of open defiance.

Many law enforcement offices across the U.S. have begun appointing school resource officers for the dual purpose of protecting schools from the epidemic of mass shootings like those at Columbine and Sandy Hook and to help school administrators maintain order and discipline in the classroom.

Often those officers must make judgment calls on the fly and their actions come under withering criticism, sometimes justified and sometimes not.

At least three Louisiana state troopers were either terminated or allowed to resign following investigations into complaints about their performance.

In one of those, a trooper was fired after he slammed the butt stock of his shotgun into the right temple of a suspect who had suffered a broken leg following a chase and then kicked him as he was lying face down while being handcuffed by deputies.

In Lake Charles, a Troop D state trooper has resigned in the wake of a state police Internal Affairs investigation into complaints against him which were unrelated to his duties as a school resource officer in Calcasieu Parish.

Jimmy Rogers posted a somewhat upbeat message on Facebook that he was accepting “an amazing opportunity” in the private sector.

That message did little to diminish the impact of harassment and domestic abuse complaints against Rogers which were ignored at State Police Troop D and at LSP headquarters in Baton Rouge until a series of LouisianaVoice stories about irregularities in Troop D. https://louisianavoice.com/2015/08/17/state-police-headquarters-sat-on-complaint-against-troop-d-trooper-for-harassment-captain-for-turning-a-blind-eye-to-it/

State Police launch Internal Affairs investigation of Troop D Commander after public records requests by LouisianaVoice

By letter dated Nov. 14, 2014, State Trooper First Class Travis Gallow was terminated from his job by Assistant State Police Superintendent Lt. Col. Charles Dupuy.

His termination followed an Internal Affairs investigation into a four-parish pursuit of a suspect who was attempting to flee officials at speeds of up to 105 mph and who was said to have been throwing drugs and a handgun from his vehicle during the chase.

Certainly he was no Boy Scout.

Gallow was in Opelousas when the chase began in East Baton Rouge Parish and proceeded immediately to attempt to intercept the suspect whose name was redacted from the 37-page report provided by LSP to LouisianaVoice.

Gallow, after disengaging the motor vehicle recorder (MVR) on his own unit, set up a partial roadblock with his vehicle and as the suspect slowed and attempted to drive past Gallow, the trooper fired his weapon at the suspect’s car. He told investigators he discharged his weapon because he feared for his safety but investigators said the suspect had already driven past Gallow’s position with the trooper fired and that he was in no danger from the fleeing suspect. “It was determined that TFC Travis Gallow was not justified in the discharge of his firearm and in violation of Louisiana State Police Procedural Orders…,” the 37-page LSP report said.

When the suspect finally did stop and attempted to exit his vehicle, he was struck by a patrol car driven by an Iberville Parish Sheriff’s deputy. The impact knocked him to the ground, fracturing his right leg.

As he lay face down on the ground, deputies attempted to pull his arms from beneath his body in order to handcuff him. Deputies told LSP Internal Affairs investigators that the suspect was not resisting but as deputies were attempting to handcuff him, Gallow approached the scene and slammed the butt stock of his shotgun “deliberately in the right temple area” of the prone suspect’s head.

One deputy said that when Gallow struck the suspect with his shotgun, “it caused the forward slide to cycle, causing a round to be chambered in the weapon.” The report said the deputy told investigators that after the round cycled, he “disengaged because he did not want to get shot by a possible accidental discharge of TFC Gallow’s weapon,”

A second deputy told investigators that once the suspect was handcuffed, the officer who was standing to the deputy’s immediate left, kicked the still prone suspect in the left side of his body. “It should be noted that after reviewing the video footage from (redacted) unit,” the report said, “the officer standing to the left of (redacted) is TFC Gallow. In addition, the video footage also shows TFC Gallow making a kicking motion toward (redacted).”

Investigators ultimately upheld five of seven charges brought against Gallow and in his Nov. 14, 2014, letter of termination, Dupuy told Gallow that his response to his intended termination “did not present any evidence or information to dispute the findings.

LouisianaVoice obtained video of the chase and the incidents involving Gallow from LSP but the video file was so large (more than 30 minutes) that it was simply impossible to include it here.

“…You are hereby notified that effective at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, you are terminated from your employment as a Louisiana State Trooper…,” Dupuy wrote.

Gallow’s termination will certainly hamper him in any attempts to gain further employment in law enforcement but when troopers are allowed to resign in lieu of termination, it allows them to join other law enforcement agencies.

Jimmy Rogers, who chose to resign from Troop D, now has that option open to him.

LouisianaVoice is currently investigating the case of at least one other state trooper who was allowed to resign and who now is again working in law enforcement. When we receive public records requested from LSP, we will be posting that story.

Posted in Corruption, Crime, Ethics, State Police | 11 Comments »

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