Big Easy Corruption Focus of Federal Effort

The Times-Picayune reports on Acting U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's "stunning recent announcement that his office is pursuing 14 other government corruption probes suggests that the feds have declared war on the Big Easy's famously lax political system with a ferocity unmatched in the city's modern history." The article notes that Letten's remarks, in combination with arrests and subpoenas, indicated that focus is on New Orleans City Hall, Louis Armstrong International Airport and Jefferson Parish.

Although past corruption investigations have often centered on one or two dishonest individuals, the common thread among many of the probes now under way is that they appear to zero in on "the Louisiana way" -- alleged sweetheart deals, kickbacks and other contracting scams that waste taxpayer dollars and make it harder for law-abiding firms to land government work.

Posted by AJR at May 15, 2003 07:13 AM