Tag: Jefferson Parish Political Corruption Scandal

If it weren’t for special interests some folks wouldn’t have any interest at all. A Campaign finance update

I had to laugh at Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes dismissing the Sierra Club and other environmentalists as special interests while pouring perfume on the Landfill Sleaze from New Orleans that have been courting Gulfport city politico$ for year$ now. But all the money the Wards have been spreading out can’t take away the stench of the kind of people that want to come to Gulfport and bulldoze more wetlands in the name of progress that Billy Hewes now attempts to prettify:

BILLY HEWES: Don’t squander a second chance at Turkey Creek

The first sign the public should be harbor great dubiety is that Hewes is from the government and claims he wants to help. Normally this means helping himself by helping the monied special interests that want to fill in wetlands to the detriment of the local residents. If I lived downstream in the floodplain I think I’d be highly skeptical. Make no mistake folks, Poppa Ward is still calling the shots here.

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep…….

Broussard parody after guilty plea deal was struck| New Orleans Levee | October 2012
Broussard parody after guilty plea deal was struck| New Orleans Levee | October 2012

Oh the horrors!

Aaron Broussard wants sentence cut citing bathroom cleaning, other prison hardships ~ Paul Purpura

And the time spent in the Hotlanta Pen was evidently hell. But….

I was there when Aaron Broussard was sentenced and had to deal with the aftermath. By aftermath I mean the disappointment felt by the public on the relatively short sentence Broussard received. As for his sentencing, I heard the man take responsibility for the crimes to which he pleaded in unequivocal terms first hand. 46 months was not a bad outcome given the life of crime Broussard led. And now he wants outs early, before he gets the full Bureau of Prison experience.

Fact of the matter is time flies by and Broussard only has 14 months left to serve. That said once he hits the ol’ half-way house he’ll be scrubbing terlits like mad and maybe that’s what he trying to avoid. Who knows? In any event he’s not getting much love in reader comments to Paul’s story. Here is a sampling:

Wait! Aaron had to clean floors??? By himself? Well at least they weren’t flooded lke mine were after Katrina. Darn pumping stations.

Now I have to ask, just what kind of work is he qualified to do on the outside that does not require a professional license that lists moral turpitude as a disqualifier? Maybe if more of the politicos did time in the same conditions there would be less incentive to steal from the public

If he’s really in so much debt, how’s he able to afford a high priced lawyer like Buddy Leman?
Makes you wonder where all that money is coming from.

This guy is a piece of work! Cry, Cry, Cry is all he knows how to do. Aaron, you are pathetic.. You are getting exactly what you deserve. Try for once in your life to take it like a man.

Sounds like his day is easier than mine!

Trying to make sense of “Commentgate”. Maybe one day we’ll all know the full story

And that includes Slabbed New Media because even though Slabbed got that special knock on the door at HQ as part of the aftermath of the Team Letten internet commenting meltdown all any of us have to offer is speculation absent seeing the fabled “Horn Report”.

When the subject matter becomes door knock serious I prefer not to speculate about the identities of the commenters here on Slabbed to the Aaron Broussard – Jefferson Parish landfill investigation, Telemachus being the most frequently speculated upon. Unlike NOLA.com, Slabbed never received any comments from a DOJ IP address on the Broussard investigation, which in turn explains the continued interest from the media on this general topic since Slabbed uncovered so much.

Along those lines Mark Moseley at the Lens did some great work on Commentgate and yesterday he checked in with another installment. From a big picture standpoint I’m uncomfortable with private citizens with a brain and writing skills being subjected to scrutiny by officialdom due to the quality of their commentary, Muspench being such an example as Mark points out:

Try to imagine full-throated apologies from the prosecutors axed in ‘Commentgate’ ~ Mark Moseley

To understand Commentgate is to understand it was more than just the DOJ digging dirt on anonymous internet commenters. This I know, the impacts of the meltdown of Team Letten reverberate across Gulf Coast to this day.

All this Aaron Broussard nostalgia brings me the warm fuzzies

First Bill Hubbard returns to society and now Tim Whitmer is a completely free man per Andrea Shaw last night over at NOLA.com as we remember the Aaron Broussard implosion plus five.

A quick pointer for everyone that is new here, the calendar on the top of the left sidebar is an excellent tool for searching the Slabbed New Media archives.  Mousing over a particular date on the calendar will pop up of list of that days posts. Click on a particular date and every post on that day will be displayed.  As I moused over this day while waxing nostalgic, chills literally ran up my spine.  Slabbed has done some great things since but from looking back at 2010/2011 we’ve set a high bar for ourselves as an online community. As a result of those old posts Slabbed New Media has developed sourcing into Jefferson Parish Politics that rivals the very best of the NOLA media community to this day.

In any event over the next few months I’m likely to feature some of those old posts circa 2010, especially the ones that have aged well. Today I feature one that has nothing to do with Jefferson Parish at all but is a classic for obvious reasons. Enjoy.

The man who launched a thousand investigations is out of the pokey

Folks, you know you’ve been blogging a long time when you covered someone from arrest through conviction all the way to their subsequent release from jail. Former St. John the Baptist Parish Prez Bill Hubbard is out of jail and is now productively delivering things to the very court house where he once had an office. This is a Slabbed exclusive.

Those catching up should click here for the bell cow post that sent the Goatherders on an international fishing expedition when the now disgraced Aaron Broussard was on the fast track to jail. Click here for the entire post archives related to the Hubbard prosecution and how it tied to the Jefferson Parish scandal.

An unnamed FBI agent joins Sal and Jan playing on the Internet

The crash and burn of the River Birch Investigation continues to come into sharper focus as everyone also gets some valuable insight from the heart of the investigative community:

New rulings reveal 4th Danziger commenter is FBI agent ~ Gordon Russell

For those so interested here is Judge Engelhardt’s order and reasons referred to in Gordon’s piece above.

And that valuable insight?  My experience is that the FBI and the US Attorneys have problems playing nicely with each other.  I’ve heard the term “splits in the investigation” in Louisiana.  I’ve heard that term more recently in Mississippi in reference to the DMR Investigation.   Heck just a few days back up Oxpatch way, former FBI Agent Hal Neilson filed another suit against former US Attorney Jim Greenlee.

US Attorneys are political animals while FBI agents are not.  The tension is bound to be there which is why I am not surprised the FBI Agent commenter to NOLA.com on the Danziger Bridge Prosecution was critical of the prosecution.

Personally, I try to avoid getting caught in the middle of pissing contests involving people that carry badges, guns and/or can indict the proverbial ham sandwich.

Stay tuned.

With the one year anniversary of the implosion of Team Letten approaching…..

Slabbed has a special series of posts coming that will break some new ground on the investigation into Jefferson Parish corruption that ultimately crashed and burned. It is a story of arrogance and greed with a side helpin’ of stupidity. The combination resulted in multiple victimes de la guerre and tarnished the reputations of the G-Men in this area. Prosecutions, such as the Danziger Bridge case have been endangered and in that respect this is a continuing story.

Stay tuned.

SPEECH Act in the news as word spreads of my historic victory over Broussard’s boys (Updated)

For those of you not following Slabbed on twitter I have a couple of links. First up is the story from LexisNexis’ Law360.com (subscription required) that I think told it best. Here is a snippet:

“The Nova Scotia Court’s oral decision does not contain specific findings of fact with respect to the falsity of Handshoe’s statements,” the opinion said. “Trout Point could not identify a single specific allegation in the statement of claim that the Nova Scotia Court found was actually false.”

Jack E. Truitt, who represented Handshoe, told Law360 Friday that the appeals court decision makes it “almost impossible to get a defamation lawsuit judgment in Canada and come here and enforce it.”

“[The SPEECH Act] has been on the books since 2010, but this is the first widely reported decision on it,” Truitt said. “From the perspective of journalists, it should help you guys sleep a little easier.”

An attorney for Trout Point did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

I know I’ve slept better ever since Bobby signed up to defend Slabbed. Quality lawyers get quality decisions and I can’t say enough good things about the job he did. I was surprised to see the otherwise loquacious Henry Laird declining comment as he frequently comments on his cases locally.

This brings me to the second link as the case was also featured on UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh’s blog. Continue reading “SPEECH Act in the news as word spreads of my historic victory over Broussard’s boys (Updated)”

Trout Point Lodge, Vaughn Perret and Charles Leary remain repugnant to the US Constitution

I invite all of my media brothers and sisters to sleep well tonight under the blanket of freedom provided by Slabbed New Media, Bobby Truitt and yours truly. Click the pic to score the 25 page opinion.  I’ll have more a bit later.

Opinion Opinion

Tabulating the cost of the Vandenweghe settlement to the taxpayer: Phelps Dunbar’s pound of flesh

Methinks TheRiot v the Blogsphere is also included in the $145,394 taxpayer funded bill for legal services. A truly sad state of affairs folks.  (H/T Citizens for Good Government and the divine M&M sisters)

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