The notion of the “informed insider” is why people read message boards and blogs. Let’s talk Henry Mencken 1951 a bit more.

On the Yahoo finance boards I have befriended:

  • Several college professors.
  • An employee of the NSA.
  • A high ranking government official from a major US City.
  • A small businessman who was doing the CEO’s secretary of a mid cap publicly traded company.
  • An executive vice President of a major tech company
  • And many other highly interesting people too numerous to mention.

Coming from that to hang with the unwashed massed on several local newspapers and blogs a few years ago, it did not take me long to figure out that as a general rule newspaper web masters were pretty much clueless about the power they had in their comment sections and forums. And without naming names I’ve seen a couple of local journalists write they did not read comments to their stories and I’ve had a couple tell me the same. I was always amazed at the specter of writers not wanting feedback on their own work, though I’ll grant a thick hide is required.

With that said, it appears the folks over at NOLA.com are getting hip to the subject as they profile David Lat of Above the Law, a site we have linked a time or two through the years here on Slabbed. Lat was also a blogger when he was a federal prosecutor, which career ended when he was unmasked by New Yorker magazine.

This stuff must seem unique for many of you folks.  To me it is old hat. Back in 2007 the inhabitants of the Whole Foods Yahoo Finance Board found out one of their fellow bloggers was the CEO himself, as he had to out himself in a SEC filing. To an information hound like me, it is heaven on earth and has profoundly shaped what you see here at Slabbed. It is also part of the reason I’m very lenient on comment moderation here. Simply put, I want people chatting.

If Heebe is right about Perricone being Mencken, his career at DoJ is done IMHO. I do not think we’ll find that out via Heebe’s lawsuit though.

And the guy that was doing the CEO’s secretary? Man o’ man I wished I had listened to him back in the day.

sop

13 thoughts on “The notion of the “informed insider” is why people read message boards and blogs. Let’s talk Henry Mencken 1951 a bit more.”

  1. Perricone is a HAS BEEN Who NEVER WAS.

    In November 2002, government and defense lawyers met in Judge Lemelle’s chambers and squared off over the secret customer list. Defense lawyers, convinced the government was treating their female clients unfairly, threatened to go public with the men’s names. According to one of the lawyers in the judge’s chambers, the one name that kept popping up during the tense meeting was that of the son of the former head of the Louisiana Republican Party.

    The pressure in the room was explosive. Suddenly, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gaynell Williams, one of the lead prosecutors, lurched to her feet. “I don’t feel very good,” she said. “I think I need some air.” She staggered toward the door and just barely made it into the hallway when she toppled over. As she fell, her face hit the wall. Her eyebrow spilt open and blood poured down her cheek. Lawyers rushed to her side. Someone fanned her. Someone else tried to stop the bleeding. Moments later, an ambulance arrived and medics carted off the government attorney.

    After the brothel case became the butt of late-night talk show jokes, the feds brought in a pair of ringers. Al Winters and Bill McSherry, a couple of seasoned federal prosecutors, stepped in and started negotiating a deal. The prosecutors who had indicted the case, Sal Perricone and Gaynell Williams, dropped out of sight.

    In the end, court records show that the government dropped the original 16-count indictment in exchange for everyone pleading guilty to at least something.

    One of the defense attorneys who worked on the negotiations said, “The government took the position that they probably made a mistake, and they wanted to bring the whole thing to a close.”

    Jeanette got the stiffest sentence: three years probation, six months in a halfway house, and a $10,000 fine.

    Even the boat got in on the deal. Prosecutors let the CRIME SCENE plead guilty to a felony–transporting prostitutes across state lines. The two businessmen who operated the boat were allowed to plead guilty to a rarely used maritime misdemeanor. Judge Lemelle fined the boat $80,000 and let the two men off with one year of unsupervised probation and a $500 fine.

    In a case in which some of the accused faced decades behind bars, not a single defendant went to prison.

    I would LOVE to know whose name U.S. Attorney Gaynell Williams was in the BLACK BOOK before she fainted & busted her haid!
    HUBBY Perhaps?

    http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/fbi_brothel/6.html

  2. I doubt her hubby had anything to do with that.

    By the way, does anyone know where the black book is right now? Has it been destroyed?

  3. YAH!….There is some INFO that had/has the GOVERNMENT Way MORE UPSET THAN JEANNETTE MAIER et al.
    Be it in BOOK Form, phone records, PHOTOS, or VIDEO!
    IT’S THERE!

  4. “In another post, he mentions that the money from Heebe went into Robinette’s “fourth wife’s (bank) account” — a fact that hasn’t been in public circulation. And in another post about the Heebe-Robinette loan, he predicts: “Here comes the COUNTER LETTER.””

    If I recall correctly the bank account was mentioned on the old slabbed wordpress site and the counter letter info isn’t exactly new information. The counter letter rumors have speculated out in the public domain for quite some time. I’m sticking by the assertion that the AUSA isn’t a the poster on NOLA being sued.

    But if I’m the DOJ then I’m going to let this play out so that Heebe winds up looking stupid. Keep quiet and distract his legal team with this witch hunt and I’m sure the DOJ is more than happy to watch him spend his money on legal defense fees.

  5. Just how naive are Heebe’s lawyers? Do they really believe that all of this information is hush hush ?? And that other people in their sphere of interaction socially and professionally, don’t know anything before the US ATTYs’ mention it in an indictment ???

    Get real …this is New Orleans FCS … it’s a small town when it comes to this kind of BS… Kyle knows better …and that’s what makes this lawsuit all the more ludicrous …

    Make no mistake of it … money talks no matter how foolish or stupid it sounds or reads … lawyers don’t go to jail, their clients do !!!

    1. Sure was Jude. At first I didn’t believe he could be that dumb but it didn’t take me long to wonder thus the above post.

      Worth noting is Michael Magner is also gone from Team Letten.

      Speaking of Team Letten it took them 2 days to digest and plug the hole caused by Perricone’s departure from the River Birch legal scene. Like I said above this is not good news for his continued employment at DoJ. Trashing POTUS is not good for continued employment at DoJ despite the fact those feelings are widely shared around these parts.

      sop

      1. While AUSAs serve at the pleasure of the president, liking the president is not a requirement of the DOJ. You sign an oath to the Constitution, not the president. Bush thought the DOJ was supposed to be his fan club. He was wrong.

  7. This revelation appears to verify info we have suspected for some time, namely that there are two factions at Team Letten, those with and those against the pay-to-play structure in the Metro area. IMHO someone on the “with” side ratted-out Perricone. Even Freaky Freddie would not have stuck-out his neck as far as he did on this one unless he knew it was a sure thing – and not just based on a hokey, Heebe hunch.
    A word of advice to the “against” team – abandon the idea that you can out-play the players at their own game. Rely on your strengths, keep the game-plan close to your vest and don’t trust anyone. Play it straight and they won’t know what hit them. If you are out there trying to be the hero, you will surely fail.

    1. We have indeed suspected there was 2 factions to Team Letten, dating to the Summer of 2010. Speaking of suspicions, I have also suspected such is the reason I was leaked the Parish Council’s emails.

      For those catching up.
      http://www.slabbed.org/?s=Slabb+O%27Leak

      The most knowledgable people that I speak with all think Heebe did not find out about Perricone via his FBI consultant. Important to remember Heebe was almost US Attorney himself back in 2002.

      You give good advice to Team Letten VZ.

      sop

  9. Mississippi state criminal activity $84 million. Victim informer of extortion $0.00 for what its worth? Blogs play there part!

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