Attorney: Edwards didn’t ask elder Bush about commutation
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NEW ORLEANS — Contradicting the account of a Sunday prison visitor, an attorney for Edwin Edwards says the ex-governor never spoke to former President George H.W. Bush about reducing his 10-year sentence.
In interviews with news media Monday, Grendel M. Levy, a former New Orleans television news producer who covered Edwards’ racketeering trial in 2000, said the former governor told her he had spoken to the elder Bush about a commutation from his son, outgoing President George W. Bush.
On Wednesday, Edwards’ attorney denied the governor ever had such a conversation with the former president and denies ever making the claim.
In a sharply worded statement, Edwards’ attorney J. Michael Small said:
“As former Gov. Edwards attorney, and as one of the few people authorized to speak for him, I would seriously caution against assuming that various statements attributed to him were actually made by Mr. Edwards.
Unfortunately, we have noticed a tendency on the part of some, and for reasons known only to them, to either exaggerate his remarks and in some instances to downright misquote him.
“A recent example of this involves press reports stating that (former) Gov. Edwards claimed to have spoken to former President George H.W. Bush about his application for a commutation of a sentence. No such conversation ever occurred and Mr. Edwards never said that it did.”
“As regards the commutation application, I can only say that it has been filed ... ,” the statement concludes.
Bush leaves office Jan. 20.
Barring medical furlough or presidential clemency, Edwards, 81, will not be eligible for release until 2011.
In interviews with news media Monday, Grendel M. Levy, a former New Orleans television news producer who covered Edwards’ racketeering trial in 2000, said the former governor told her he had spoken to the elder Bush about a commutation from his son, outgoing President George W. Bush.
On Wednesday, Edwards’ attorney denied the governor ever had such a conversation with the former president and denies ever making the claim.
In a sharply worded statement, Edwards’ attorney J. Michael Small said:
“As former Gov. Edwards attorney, and as one of the few people authorized to speak for him, I would seriously caution against assuming that various statements attributed to him were actually made by Mr. Edwards.
Unfortunately, we have noticed a tendency on the part of some, and for reasons known only to them, to either exaggerate his remarks and in some instances to downright misquote him.
“A recent example of this involves press reports stating that (former) Gov. Edwards claimed to have spoken to former President George H.W. Bush about his application for a commutation of a sentence. No such conversation ever occurred and Mr. Edwards never said that it did.”
“As regards the commutation application, I can only say that it has been filed ... ,” the statement concludes.
Bush leaves office Jan. 20.
Barring medical furlough or presidential clemency, Edwards, 81, will not be eligible for release until 2011.
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