August 4, 2005
Letten goes after Bill Jefferson...
With the spotlight focused on Markey-Marc Morial and his cronies, no doubt Bill Jefferson was blindsided by the US Attorney's search warrants yesterday. The FBI searched Jefferson's offices and home, as well as the offices of his accountant, daughter (state rep Jalila Jefferson-Bullock), and DA Eddie Jordan.
Varney and Carr get it right in Da Paper's account of the raids, with one huge understatement:
Jefferson, who once ran against Morial and is not seen as part of his political camp, has not been mentioned in connection with any of the city contracts under scrutiny.
Jefferson is by far not part of Morial's entourage. Jefferson ran against Morial for mayor in 1990. It was an open seat; Sidney Barthelemy was mercifully term-limited out. Even by New Orleans standards, this election was one of the most brutal contests. The personal attacks from both sides, particularly from the Jefferson camp against Morial, really got raw. Whatever Letten has on Jefferson, it's highly doubtful it's related to City Hall.
That's not to say that Jefferson isn't capable of getting into trouble on his own. One fo the two big fish of Operation Wrinkled Robe, 24th JD Judge Alan Green, is connected to Jefferson's extended political family. Still, Jefferson's nobody's fool; his reputation is such that he would avoid being connected to anything that would get someone indicited.
There don't appear to be any leakers in the US Attorney's office under Letten, given how all we hear about the Morial investigation is from the defendant's attorneys. This means we're likely to be left speculating until indictments come down against Jefferson and his people. What's really interesting about this is that Eddie Jordan used to be US Attorney, and now he's being searched. Jordan got the job because of his association with Jefferson. Jefferson delivered Louisiana to Clinton and Clinton paid that back by consulting with the Congressman on LA appointees. Jordan got the job because he was one of Jefferson's law partners and long-time backers. Granted, he's been out of the federal job for four years now, but one would think he'd still have friends in the federal building. Yet another testimonial to Letten's professionalism that the lid is on tight.