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John Georges says Letten criticism was meant as a joke
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| Contributor | Brandonius Maximus |
| Last Edited | Brandonius Maximus Jan 13, 2010 10:13am |
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| Category | General |
| Author | David Hammer, The Times-Picayune |
| Media | Newspaper - New Orleans Times-Picayune |
| News Date | Wednesday, January 13, 2010 04:10:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Responding to an uproar over some of his recent comments, mayoral candidate John Georges said Tuesday that he actually supports U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and that he was "just joking" when he said the area's top fed should have been replaced.
Speaking before the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee on Friday, Georges, a former Republican Party fund-raiser who became a Democrat four months ago, launched into a rant about Letten. His comments at the closed-door meeting were captured on an audio recording and posted on the Web site wecouldbefamous.blogspot.com by blogger Eli Ackerman.
"Mitch Landrieu is a leader, but, you know, I tell ya, we still have a Republican as a U.S. attorney," Georges said. "I voted for Barack Obama so we'd have a new U.S. attorney. It's not a racial thing, it's a Democratic thing. Now you want someone to fight for the Democratic Party? I'm the newest member; I can fight for you."
Georges put out a statement Tuesday expressing support for Letten.
"I believe that U.S. Attorney Jim Letten is doing an outstanding job," the statement read. "Friday night at the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee, I was speaking about Democratic politics. The mayor has no control over the appointment of a U.S. attorney. I commend Jim Letten for a job well done in his fight against corruption. As mayor I will work closely with Jim Letten and all other components of the criminal justice system to weed out corruption."
In a separate interview, Georges said the whole rant against Letten was a joke -- a strategy intended to keep Landrieu, the lieutenant governor and front-runner in the mayor's race, from getting an important endorsement. |
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