Until now, the selection of a permanent federal prosecutor for this area was
mired in politics, none of it having anything to do with Democrats. It was the
GOP that couldn't get its ducks in a row.
That may soon change.
Gov. Mike Foster early on claimed dibs on the appointment, which officially
comes from President George W. Bush. Presidents typically look to local party
leaders to provide names of competent (and loyal) nominees. Foster, a pal of
the prez, gave him businessman Fred Heebe Jr., who has practiced law part-time
for more than 10 years.
Even before national women's groups trashed Heebe, there was a bitter fight
behind the scenes between, among others, Foster and Elections Commissioner Suzanne
Haik Terrell, over the appointment. Terrell did not support Heebe, reportedly
because she didn't think he was qualified. Whatever the reasons for her opposition
to Heebe, it rankled Foster plenty -- and that's why Gov. Warbucks was so cool
to Terrell throughout her Senate campaign.
Now that Terrell is the darling of the national GOP (and possibly the new
senator -- note: I'm writing this a day before the runoff), she may have even
more to say about who the new U.S. Attorney will be. Even if she's not the new
senator, she's clearly the future of the state Republican Party, whereas Foster
is well into his political dotage. Nobody knows that more than the White House.
Since former U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan left his post, the job has been held
by Jim Letten, a career federal prosecutor and top Jordan assistant. Letten
also led the courtroom team that put Edwin Edwards behind bars. It's no secret
he would like to hold onto the job. He certainly couldn't be accused of lacking
qualifications, but he appears to lack a qualified patron, which underscores
why we call it patronage (as opposed to, say, "meritage").
If Terrell is the new senator, she will soon get around to suggesting someone
as the permanent federal prosecutor. They call that "senatorial privilege."
As for Letten, he appears to have been trying to score as many brownie points
as possible by putting as many bad guys in jail as he can. He's got one more
opportunity on the horizon: neo-Nazi David Duke, the perennial bad boy of Louisiana
politics. Duke reportedly wants to return to his Fatherland from his current
self-imposed hiatus in Russia.
A few years back, the feds raided Duke's Mandeville home and confiscated armloads
of records, supposedly in support of a mail fraud and tax case against the former
KKK leader. Duke at the time was already in Russia, and he has found it convenient
to stay there ever since.
As Gambit Weekly first reported last week, Duke's attorney has been
quietly negotiating Duke's return to the U.S. with Letten's office, reportedly
in exchange for a year-plus in jail and a fine.
The possible crimes committed by Duke stem from his fundraising schemes, which
included the "sale" of his mailing list to then-candidate Mike Foster in 1995
for more than $150,000. The "sale" came just as Duke was getting out of the
governor's race and giving his tacit endorsement to Foster, who quickly jumped
to the front of the pack. The price paid for the list, which Foster never used,
was wa-a-a-a-ay more than the market. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.
If Edwin Edwards had done this, the feds would not have hesitated to call
it money laundering. Duke could certainly shed some interesting light on the
transaction, if federal prosecutors were interested in that sort of thing.
So Letten now has to ask himself two questions. How badly does he want to
be the permanent U.S. Attorney? And, more important, does going after Mike Foster
now help or hurt his chances?
I'm not sure of the answers, but I am sure that that's why
we call it "politics."
