Washington Watch for Nov. 2, 2008

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: Nov 1, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:00 a.m.

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If President Bush commutes the sentence of Edwin Edwards, the gregarious former Louisiana governor will return to his state and find that one thing hasn’t changed: public corruption.

Malfeasance is alive and well in the Pelican State as evidenced by multiple indictments and guilty pleas, particularly in New Orleans.
But the lingering chicken-and-egg question also hasn’t changed. Is Louisiana truly more corrupt  or is it only that state, federal and local law enforcement have done exceptionally well in catching the crooks?

Jim Letten says it’s a little bit of each. The U.S. attorney in New Orleans was the chief prosecutor in the case that convicted Edwards and imposed a 10-year sentence on him for extorting payoffs from businessmen seeking riverboat casino licenses. Edwards, 82, has three years remaining on his jail time.

Edwards could be sprung by Bush because of the advocacy of powerful supporters that include former U.S. Sens. John Breaux D-La., and J. Bennett Johnson, D-La., a longtime tennis partner of Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush.

Though the Edwards conviction is considered Letten’s greatest catch, he hasn’t been idle since then. The New Orleans native estimates that he, people from the FBI and parish prosecutors have put more than 200 people in jail over the past six years.

Not all of those arrested or indicted were public officials, Letten said, but they were related to a scheme involving those entrusted with serving the public.

The net cast by Letten and his colleagues has snared people ranging from teachers and their assistants committing mail fraud and extortion to two sitting Jefferson Parish judges convicted of taking payoffs from bail bondsmen.

Letten disagrees with studies that rank Louisiana as most-corrupt state in the nation. The studies assert that because the state has more convictions of public officials per 100,000 residents, it is at the worst.

Letten said the studies are skewed.

If public officials weren’t convicted, would Louisiana rank lower?

And he points to a new ranking released last week by a national government-watchdog group that listed Louisiana No. 4 in the nation for governmental transparency and accountability.

“I honestly don’t believe that we in New Orleans and Louisiana have measurably more corruption than any other place in the nation,” Letten said.

The arm of law enforcement, nontheless, has been on a streak of catching high-profile politicians.