Louisiana State Police Commission Chairman Eulis Simien, Jr.
———————————————————–
UPDATE: 02/10/09 @ 8:52 p.m.
Mere hours after we published the feature below, we received a private Facebook message from Louisiana Rep. Mark Wright (R-Covington). We provide that private Facebook message from Wright in its entirety below:
Perhaps Rep. Wright has a point. Why should we have any expectation that he or his staff would demonstrate a modicum of competence and correctly complete a campaign finance report?
Now, we will expect to see Rep. Wright’s correspondence as part of Mr. Riecke’s written response to Executive Director Jason Hannaman; furthermore, we will expect to see a cancelled check drawn on the personal bank account of Denis Riecke.
At that point, we can legitimately state that Rep. Wright is correct and has demonstrated incompetence in completing a campaign finance report which we justifiably relied upon. We will expect for this matter to be fully resolved via the aforementioned documentation (most notably that cancelled check drawn on Denis Riecke’s personal bank account) at the February 2019 LSPC meeting.
——————————————————-
Almost three years ago, retired Louisiana State Police Trooper Leon “Bucky” Millet initiated complaints against three members of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) that would ultimately lead to their resignations from the Commission. Millet contended that the three members engaged in improper political activities by contributing to campaigns of candidates running for public office in Louisiana.
Today, January 10, 2019, Millet repeated history in calling for the “immediate resignations” of three current LSPC members (Chairman Eulis Simien, Jr., Jared Riecke, and Chief Harold Pierite) over the same issue. He further stated that, absent their voluntary resignations, he “sees no alternative but to have the Governor call a public hearing (for their removals).” The following video captures Millet voicing his complaint and the reactions of members Simien and Riecke:
Political contributions sure do seem to be a hot potato regarding Louisiana State Police. We have the LSTA’s lawsuit against the LSPC wherein the LSTA asserts as unconstitutional the LSPC’s prohibition of political activities on the part of the LSTA. That fact notwithstanding, and despite the episodes of three years ago, if Millet’s complaints are well-founded, they apparently somehow believe they have that absolute right (or else perhaps thought they could skirt the provisions through having the contributions made through their companies). The support documents Millet supplied follow: Pierite (see pages 4, 5, and 6); Riecke (see page 2); and Siemen (see pages 2 and 4).
At the end of the meeting, Millet proceeded to present yet another complaint, this time against elected members of the Louisiana State Troopers Association entailing the same matter of improper political activities. Here’s video of his presentation:
Here’s video coverage of LSPC members elaborating upon their plans for dealing with Millet’s complaints:
LSPC Members elaborate on plans for dealing with Millet’s complaints.
Millet’s presentation should make for a more interesting meeting in February, and we’ll be there to cover it for our subscribers!
If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops). Supply your email address within the subscribe box. You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow”bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.
In early 2017, Louisiana State Police (LSP) Col. Mike Edmonson “retired amid a widening controversy.” Gov. Edwards opted to replace Edmonson with Kevin Reeves; however, Reeves’ appointment created problems for Reeves’ son, Kaleb. Specifically, an ethics law entailing nepotism would bar Kaleb, who was scheduled to graduate (and did graduate) from the LSP Training Academy on April 5, 2017, from being hired by LSP.
What ultimately transpired is that Rep. Jack McFarland (R-Jonesboro) sponsored a bill in the 2017 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, HB-308, to essentially carve out a special exemption to permit Kaleb Reeves to be hired. During consideration, Kevin Reeves indicated that no special treatment entailing discipline, promotions, or transfers would be afforded his son.
In today’s Sound Off Louisiana feature, founder Robert Burns examines an open question on the part of some rank-and-file troopers entailing whether LSP Colonel Reeves has lived up to his words. Their concerns arise in light of a November 18, 2018 transfer of Kaleb Reeves to a Detective position which they contend, “transpired far faster than should ordinarily be the case.” As notated by Burns in the following video and outlined on the remainder of this post, the circumstances surrounding that transfer have raised more than a few eyebrows among some of those troopers:
In the preceding video, Burns states that this transfer is a little bit of a “hot potato.” One item appearing to buttress that observation is contained in the following highlighted text of an email response to Burns’ public record request by Faye Morrison, who is the head of LSP’s legal Department:
Also, as mentioned in the video, Major Doug Cain, Media Relations Spokesman for LSP, called Burns on the day the email above was sent by Morrison (Thursday, December 20, 2018) and essentially stated what is highlighted in the letter from Morrison below:
Now, here is the actual documentation provided by LSP; however, as is readily apparent, the names of the “approving officials” are illegible. Nevertheless, we were able to blow up versions of the pages below and tap our sources within LSP to obtain the identities of those individuals. Accordingly, we have hand-written their names in clear blue ink to assist our subscribers in knowing who the approving officials are:
Now, let’s take just a moment to examine each of the gentlemen approving Kaleb Reeves’ transfer above:
Level 2 Approval: Wayne Vidrine, whom Reeves named as Commander of Troop-I (no change in rank, remained as Captain) on November 20, 2017. Although no press release or other notice via Google search could be ascertained, Vidrine was obviously promoted to Major as Region III Command Inspector at some point after November 20, 2017 as evidenced by the preceding link.
Level 3 Approval: Jay Oliphant, whom Reeves promoted to Region 3 Major on June 27, 2017. Incredibly, and from what we are told by our LSP sources, Oliphant THEN RECEIVED A SECOND PROMOTION (to a highly-prestigious position of Lieutenant Colonel) as “deputy Superintendent of Patrol” sometime after June 27, 2017. Again, as with Vidrine above, we could find no press release or other notice via Google search, but also as evidenced similarly to Vidrine above, Oliphant clearly got the second promotion as evidenced by the previous link.
Lieutenant Colonel Oliphant is perhaps the most intriguing player in the mix. As long-time Sound Off Louisiana subscribers are aware, it is Oliphant who is the central focus of former Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) member Calvin Braxton’s defamation lawsuit against the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA). In essence, Braxton alleges that the material contained in a report authored by Oliphant, which can be viewed beginning on page three (3) at this link, constituted an orchestrated attempt by the LSTA to have him removed from the LSPC by having Oliphant produce a “fake” incident report which Braxton claims is completely false. He also asserts in the lawsuit that the content of that incident report has defamed his character.
Experts with whom we’ve spoken with ties to LSP have told us that the incident report, which is dated June 2, 2016, is highly suspicious as to its credibility because the actual incident transpired on December 5, 2015. These experts have informed us that it’s unheard of for an LSP Trooper to draft an incident report some 180 days after the incident, and they’ve told us that the norm is for such a report to be prepared within 24 hours of the incident or 48 hours at the latest.
The timing of Oliphant’s report is also suspicious in that Braxton was known to be working with former LSPC Executive Director Cathy Derbonne regarding irregularities at the LSPC. Most noteworthy among those irregularities were illegal campaign contributions into Gov. Edwards’ (and others) campaigns in 2015 by the LSTA. A consent agreement was reached with the State Board of Ethics entailing those illegal campaign contributions which called for a $5,000 fine to the LSTA.
What makes the timing of Oliphant’s incident report (June 2, 2016) suspicious is that, only 47 days after it was drafted, Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Jones made a stunning revelation on a conference call for which he did not know Cathy Derbonne was listening in on via speakerphone. Specifically, Derbonne contends that, on July 19, 2016, Jones stated that Gov. Edwards’ office had told Derbonne to “shut the f— up” about both the campaign contributions and the fact that she contended Gov. Edwards was making illegal appointments to the LSPC by not following Louisiana’s Constitution. Derbonne’s contention about such illegal appointments actually mirrors the claim Attorney General Jeff Landry recently lodged against Edwards in litigation Landry has filed entailing an Edwards appointment to the Red River Basin Commission.
Another interesting aspect of Lt. Colonel Oliphant is a Facebook post he made in early 2017 which follows:
Because LSP is itself law enforcement, Oliphant’s social media post seems particularly inappropriate and may have warranted disciplinary action because of the horrendously bad message that it sends to the public. Specifically, it sends the message that someone citizens have entrusted to be brave when being called upon to help them resolve their insecurities or fears actually openly admits in a wide-open, available-to-the-world Facebook post that he struggles to manage his own insecurities and fears. His reference to doing “whatever is necessary to protect those who are near and dear to me; including myself” could very easily be interpreted as an LSP Trooper willing to take the law and legal process into his own hands, which is something any LSP Trooper would warn any citizen against doing.
Oliphant also appears to want to be cute in not naming the individual whom he references as instilling such “fear” into him, yet all the while he’s composing that post, and it’s being commented upon and shared, he knows full well that anyone reading the post will know full-well that he’s referencing Braxton. We should also note that we have been informed by folk with strong LSP ties that making a Facebook post of the nature Oliphant has made is potentially a violation of LSP’s policies and procedures. If it isn’t, it certainly ought to be because of the horrendously bad message that it sends to the general public. Sources have told us that Oliphant deleted the Facebook post in short order, but not before the preceding screen-shot was taken and subsequently provided to us for the purpose of this Sound Off Louisiana feature.
Braxton has denied any such focus on Oliphant. Also, his attorney, Jill Craft, who also represents Derbonne in her LSPC litigation, states in the following interview with WWL in New Orleans, how Oliphant should have handled any such concerns on his part (for which we wholeheartedly agree with Craft’s statements in that regard):
Craft comments on Oliphant’s alleged fears of Braxton and Braxton’s contention that he was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by the LSTA designed to have him removed from the LSPC.
It will be up to the jury in Braxton’s civil litigation to decide whether or not it concurs with Braxton’s very emphatic contention that Oliphant’s report is a fabrication and, further, if his name and reputation have been damaged by the LSTA and/or Oliphant, but we will make the following four observations on the matter:
1. The matter of the political contributions was (and is) obviously highly sensitive to the LSTA, and that fact has been readily demonstrated by the LSTA’s recent lawsuit against the LSPC seeking to again make such contributions in the 2019 election cycle.
2. IF (emphasis on the word “IF”) the incident report by Oliphant is indeed a fabrication, then THAT would explain why Edwards sat on the report for over a year. Fox8’s Lee Zurik hammered Edwards hard on that fact. Either way, the optics look horrible for Edwards. Only two possibilities exist: 1) the incident report is authentic, in which case Edwards looks horrible for sitting on it for a year and taking no action until Zurik exposed its existence in a very public manner; or 2) the report is a fabrication, in which case Edwards appears complicit in the effort to sandbag Braxton by sitting on the report unless and until it was needed to oust Braxton from the LSPC.
3. When we made a public records request of the Edwards administration for a signed resignation letter from Calvin Braxton, his office could provide us with nothing more than this press release, which had been widely distributed through Gov. Edwards’ internal email distribution system.
4. IF (and again we emphasize “IF”) the report is a fabrication as Braxton alleges, that would mean that LSP has gotten corrupt beyond comprehension in that: A) the LSTA could deploy a puppet (in this case, Jay Oliphant) to remove someone on the LSPC whom they deem to be adverse to their own interests; and B) that puppet would thereafter be rewarded for his role in the ouster via two lightening-fast promotions, the most recent of which is to a very highly prestigious position of Lt. Colonel, for which there are only four such appointments of that rank. If that scenario is indeed what has transpired, then LSP can only be described as little short of a Mafia operation! Further, the public’s trust will be almost impossible to restore for an agency that is that corrupt short of a massive overhaul led by someone from the outside who has no prior LSP connections, and Reeves wouldn’t remotely qualify for meeting that criterion!
Was Reeves’ rapid-fire promotions of Oliphant a “reward” to Oliphant for his alleged role in assisting with an alleged plot to oust Braxton? We do not know, but Col. Reeves is invited to appear on camera to respond to any and all aspects of this investigative report to dispel any notions of nepotism, a continuation of the Edmonson sleaze factor, or anything else for which he’d like to provide commentary.
While Starnes has received no promotion under Reeves, the legality of his appointment as de facto Undersecretary has been called into question from the “darkest days” (to repeat a phrase uttered by Col. Reeves in December of 2017 at the Baton Rouge Press Club) of the Edmonson administration. Those who have challenged the legality of Starnes’ appointment as de facto Undersecretary cite LA R. S. 36:406 to buttress their contention. The relevant basis for the legality challenge follows:
Critics of the “appointment” of Starnes as de facto Undersecretary cite the following discrepancies with the preceding statute:
# 1) there was no “appointment by the Governor” but instead, Edmonson created a special position just for Starnes which wasn’t titled “Undersecretary” but serves as that function,
#2) the salary for the position was never “fixed by the Governor” but was instead falsely portrayed by Edmonson to not entail any increase in Starnes’ pay (when critics contend it actually did entail an increase in pay, a point readily stipulated to by several past and present LSPC members), and
#3) the Legislature never approved of the salary being paid for the position.
Former LSPC Executive Director Cathy Derbonne’s lawsuit against the LSPC references the irregularities of the appointment regarding Starnes’ position which are itemized above.
Starnes’ appointment was also the subject of the most hostile exchange between two members of any board or commission that we have ever recorded. Those LSPC members engaging in the heated exchange were former LSPC Member Lloyd Grafton and LSPC Member Jared Riecke. It’s shown in the following video:
Heated exchange at the 2/7/17 LSPC meeting between Lloyd Grafton and Jared Riecke entailing the Starnes appointment. Things got particularly heated beginning at the 5:00 mark, and Riecke makes it clear at the 6:14 mark of the video, that he is, “sitting here having a conversation about Starnes.”
As one individual stated to us, “the optics of all this look horrible.” Another individual soon thereafter chimed in, “It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.”
We’ve now concluded our presentation of the concerns of those who have contacted us, and our offer to Col. Reeves to appear on camera to comment on any matter in this feature stands indefinitely should he wish to accept that offer. In the meantime, we have made the following public records request to provide LSP with an opportunity to document Kaleb Reeves’ credentials for the Detective position beyond merely being Col. Reeves son:
We’ll update this feature with any response provided to us.
If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops). Supply your email address within the subscribe box. You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow”bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.
Gov. Edwards appeared before the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday, January 7, 2019. Highlights follow:
Edwards defends Medicaid expansion and blasts AG Jeff Landry’s courtroom efforts to overturn Obamacare as “reckless.”
Edwards responds to a question of whether he would support a bill to refund taxes paid by business when those taxes have been declared to be unconstitutional.
Although the normal procedure is to raise one’s hand and hope the speaker (Gov. Edwards in this case) will call upon you, LaTonya Smith Scott, Louisiana AARP’s State Communications Director, made certain that her question was addressed by simply directly posing it without Edwards first acknowledging her. Let’s take a peek at her question and Gov. Edwards’ response:
Edwards responds to a question for “family care giving” posed by LaTonya Smith Scott, AARP’s State Communications Director
Ms. Scott sat within four feet of Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns, and he and she have exchanged pleasantries at past meetings. Immediately after the meeting, Burns approached Scott and provided a business card and directed her to the newly-issued website The Choice Is Clear Louisiana. He even pulled the site up on his iPHONE and drew Scott’s attention to the eighth entry on the site which highlights a past Advocate article stating that AARP accuses Gov. Edwards of breaking a campaign promise of his 2015 election campaign to place emphasis on home health care for seniors vs. being placed in nursing homes.
As Burns was speaking with Scott, Richard Carbo immediately showed up on the scene and interjected himself into the conversation by stating to Scott, “Don’t pay any attention to anything he (Burns) says. Everything he puts out is junk!” Burns responded, “Mr. Carbo, that website is comprised almost exclusively of news features published by the mainstream media.” Carbo then responded, “Yeah, and you’re the only one who would put junk like that out there!”
It looks like Carbo, who has served as Edwards’ press secretary, but effective today, has officially joined his re-election team staff, is more than a little sensitive to matters which may affect Louisiana’s seniors perception of his boss, Gov. Edwards. Judging by his reaction to Burns’ interaction with Scott, it would certainly appear that perhaps the Governor’s re-election team, for that matter, may be a tad testy about The Choice Is Clear Louisiana. Given the site’s intentional near-exclusive reliance of article published by the mainstream media for its content, Carbo must feel all media outlets in Louisiana don’t publish anything but “junk.” This ought to be a really intriguing campaign year if Carbo’s immature outburst is any guide, and we’ll gladly accept his less-than-flattering commentary about Burns as a compliment and further take great pride and delight in his testiness!
Edwards responds to a question entailing a hypothetical scenario wherein the Revenue Estimating Committee (REC) refuses to recognize additional tax revenue and, should such a scenario arise, if he will push for a tax increase to fund the teacher pay raises he seeks as a top priority for the 2019 Legislative Session.
Edwards responds to a question by Advocate reporter Lanny Keller entailing whether Edwards feels the framework of the Legislature’s House Labor Committee is more amicable to passage of an increase in Louisiana’s minimum wage and whether Edwards has held discussions with the National Federation of Independent Business or “others who have killed the bill in the past?”
Edwards responds to a question regarding whether he will support a bill to roll back sales tax increases sooner than their 7-year life if surpluses arise in Louisiana’s budgets.
Edwards responds to a question by AP reporter Melinda Deslatte entailing whether his view on a bill which permits convicted felons to vote in Louisiana has been impacted by reports that Deslatte cites indicating that as many as 35,000 new voters may be eligible under the new law.
Edwards responds to a question by AP reporter Melinda Deslatte about an anticipated national focus on Louisiana’s Governor’s race this year and that he may be targeted by national Republican groups and funding sources, who Deslatte states view Edwards as an “oddity” in being a Democrat among Southern states surrounded by Republican governors.
Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns held his hand up during the meeting to be called upon, but alas he never was. Perhaps Mr. Carbo’s exchange after the meeting provides the rationale as to why.
CLICK HERE to view Gov. Edwards’ presentation in its entirely (unless of course you may object to viewing material provided by someone who “publishes nothing but junk.”)
If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops). Supply your email address within the subscribe box. You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow”bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.
