Every year since Hurricane Katrina, Gambit has honored individuals and groups who have helped our city recover from the greatest man-made and natural disaster in U.S. history. This year we again pay tribute to a hero of the recovery, but, for only the second time in our history, we honor someone from the public sector (the first was Lindy Boggs, who received the honor upon her retirement in 1991).
For all the governmental failures during and after Katrina, one branch of the federal government stands out for having risen to the occasion time and again to help the city and the region right itself. From helping local prosecutors when the local criminal justice system fell apart to aggressively pursuing fraudulent FEMA, Road Home and Red Cross claims to ferreting out entrenched political corruption, the U.S. Attorney's Office under Jim Letten has lifted the standards — and the hopes — of post-Katrina New Orleans.
The mere mention of Letten's name sends shivers down the spines of crooked pols and evokes cheers from citizens, but he gives all the credit to his staff, fellow prosecutors, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies. While his office has amassed an impressive record on many fronts since Katrina, 2009 was a banner year for Letten and his team of modern-day Untouchables: more than a dozen high-profile criminal indictments and trials against political crooks from every corner of southeast Louisiana — and major investigations are, says Letten in his best Eliot Ness game face, "ongoing."
All of which makes U.S. Attorney Jim Letten an easy choice for Gambit's 2009 New Orleanian of the Year.
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Tags: Jim Letten
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I've said it before and I will say it again: The Defense Bar in New Orleans should have gotten together and given Jim Letten the biggest gift basket in the history of mankind. His office single handedly made the Defense Bar the busiest lawyers in New Orleans by far in 2009.
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God Bless Jim Letten, his Assistant US Attorneys and all the federal agencies taking the fight to the scum and trash of not only New Orleans, but the surrounding parishes as well.
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I hope the new attention that Sen Vitter has brought to himself and to Louisiana concerning President Obama’s delay in appointing Jim Letten as U.S. attorney will backfire on Vitter, and finally lead to intense scrutiny into Louisiana’s APPALLING JUSTICE SYSTEM.
Letten’s actions regarding the New Orleans Canal Street Brothel and Senator David Vitter’s original maneuvering to get Letten appointed, and Vitter’s goal to keep Letten in place has more to do with Vitter’s agenda, than combating crime. Also is the fact of Letten's selective prosecution of federal Judge Thomas Porteous (whose impeachment is now before Congress), and Letten’s covering for other miscreant federal judges! Moreover, is the glaring fact that Letten has yet to bring bribery charges against those LAWYERS who paid bribes to Porteous.
Although no person is qualified to judge another, unlike Letten, I am not in a position of public trust with opportunities to carry out dangerously questionable behavior, like Jim Letten. In light of the elitist New Orleans rank of “haves” and “have nots” POVERTY and accompanied New Orleans VIOLENCE, there is ample reason to regard hearsay about Letten having a “plantation mentality;” and if Black or White persons further oppression, any corrupt practices will less likely be threatened –unless covering for them fails to quell public outrage. The dots clearly connect Letten to Judicial Collusion, Social Maladies, and Louisiana’s entrenched corruption. New Orleans seems to be Maffia headquarters, under Letten’s protection.
Also, Louisiana mortgage fraud and real estate racketeering industry (involving Freddie Mac, Wells Fargo, others) enabled by Letten’s office and certain federal judges is another self-evident matter. Remarkably, Letten’s manifestly questionable acts do not become reported in New Orleans newspapers.
Further, like Letten’s previous mentor, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, I have no doubt Letten engages in less than scrupulous (including likely illegal wire taps and then likely distort that such Intelligence was derived from snitches), methods to procure his prosecutions and his ability to endear himself to the public. **See more information about Jim Letten’s abuse of position in his improper “secret deals” court case, the Texas Opinion posted at: http://www.txs.uscourts.gov/notablecases/498cr18/98cr18_opin.pdf
**Also see facts about the Canal Street Brothel, read “The Bust”
http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/fbi_brothel/6.html
*And SEE: http://timespicayuneonusattyjimletten.blogspot.com/
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Lawgrace, it is people like you who are the
reason that I married outside of my race. Black
folks from Louisiana tend to be wack sometimes and overly
preoccupied with race. You scour the internet in search of Letten's name in order to bash him every
chance you get and your conspiracy theories are mindboggling to
say the least. Why don't you spend some of your time
traveling to Hati to go and help them out in their severe crisis. We're gonna make sure that you have plenty of Letten articles to attack when you get back!
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Well Ms. Bayou Storm, I'm white and agree with Lawgrace; so maybe I should marry outside of my race too. I suppose that you and I prove that many New Orleanians' beliefs that all whites and blacks think as homogenous groups are completely wrong.
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If you agree with anyone who continually
rants her obsession about Jim Letten and goes off on long winding
tirades on all her internet sites then maybe you need to marry her. I've read everything that she has written about Letten because it is only about Letten anyway. And all I can say she is on an
obsessive rampage with Letten . There has to be much more to this
than just a Katrina evacuee who doesn't even live in New Orleans anymore going off on Jim Letten. Letten must have hit that kitty cat back in the day.
That's what it is. Letten must have tagged that bootay! I got this all figured out and I bet my cousin who is in law school in ATL would agree. Bwahahahahaha!!!! Letten
rocks!!!!
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The best thing that Letten could do for me is help
me with the LSAT. My cousin wants me to finish law school
and instead of going right here in Louisiana like
I did before, I want to go to George Washington University which I am an alumni. I called my
cousin because she never sleeps anyway and she agreed
with me when it comes to my theory concerning ole girl (Ms. Jackson accuses Letten of having a "plantation mentality"--oh those code words; and she accuses him of "social maladies"--blaming Letten for the downfall of New Orleans). Ms.Jackson has issues!!!!
"I'm sorry Ms. Jackson. I am for real. Never meant to make your daughter cry. I
apologize a million times......."
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Ms. Bayou Storm - If what you suggest actually happened, apparently he wasn't all that.
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And she (Barbara Ann) ain't all that with her lies and rumors of truth concerning Jim Letten anteehoo!!! I read everything that I can find about her online simply because it is wack and on crack anyway!!!
Her traumatic life and all, she elaborates on. Her perverse fascination with Jim Letten is appalling--to say the least. Letten is my hero and I don't give a shidddddddddtttttttt if you or Barbara Ann like it or not. Letten is all that, a bag of chips and some motherfuggggggggggnnnnn dip--all on a Superbowl Sunday with the Saints playing!!!! Letten keeps me well informed and well abreasted as to corruption--and he's kinda cute too. You and shetroll need to go back to swamp dwelling.
Anybody who blames the social maladies (plantation mentality?!! Say what?!! Say what?!!) of the black race on Jim Letten has some pretty serious issues amongst other
things. Try blaming it on an apathetic black population for starters and leave Letten outta this. Duh!!!!! This woman even threw out the racial code word "amalgamation", which was the slavery code word
for "taboo" race mixing even before the term "miscegenation" came about. She knows exactly what she is doing with her retarded azz self. She claims that Letten won't consent to speak to her but I think
that is a crock. I've personally talked to Letten
myself, before, at a forum!!! He'll talk to you as long as you don't act as
wack as apparently she does!!!!!
She is just mad because the DOJ won't finance her broke azz with
relocating back to New Orleans post hurricane Katrina. Even my cousin
laughs at her Internet posts--with her last one going all "HuffPo"
(Huffington Post) on Jimbo!!! You can't seriously give anybody credibility
whose mama named her after a lame azz Beach Boys tune!!!
Both you and she will be greatly disappointed to hear that Jimbo is
staying on as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana and he
was appointed to US Attorney General Eric Holder's advisory committee of US attorneys. I can't wait to see her screeching online about that. The conspiracy theories are great but she needs come with some substantial proof to back up her wack azz claims!!! Anteehoo!!! It seems as though Jimbo won't be going anywhere for a while--in spite of Barbara Ann's objections.
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