Somebody Has to Say It: Sweep Around Your Own Front Door

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana has a lot of nerve.

That is the thought that comes to mind as news breaks that Jordan Ginsberg, one of the lead federal prosecutors in the case against former New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into alleged employee misconduct. Court records also show the office has moved to withdraw him from the Cantrell case.

And here is the part that makes the whole thing stink: this is the same office prosecuting Cantrell over allegations tied, in part, to an improper relationship, abuse of authority and efforts to conceal misconduct.

Now one of their own is reportedly under scrutiny for an alleged improper relationship with a subordinate.

You cannot make this up.

Let’s be clear. Former Mayor Cantrell is entitled to due process. So is Ginsberg. Allegations are allegations until proven. But public trust does not wait for a verdict. Public trust lives or dies in the appearance of integrity. And the appearance here is rotten.

This is not the first time the Eastern District has had to look in the mirror.

Under former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, the office built its reputation chasing public officials, including former Mayor Ray Nagin. But that same office was rocked by scandal when senior prosecutors Jan Mann and Sal Perricone admitted to posting anonymous online comments about federal cases, investigations and targets of their own office. Letten resigned. Perricone resigned. Mann was demoted and later left. A federal judge blasted the misconduct. Cases were tainted. Trust was damaged.

So forgive us if we do not genuflect every time the federal government shows up with an indictment and a press conference.

The Eastern District has too often acted as though it stands above the people it prosecutes. It has positioned itself as the cleaner of Louisiana’s political house while repeatedly showing dirt on its own hands.

And yes, Black leadership in New Orleans has reason to look side-eyed at this office. We have watched federal power come down hard, loud and publicly on Black elected officials and public figures. We have watched careers, reputations and legacies placed under the harshest light. But when the misconduct is inside the prosecutor’s office, suddenly the language gets careful. Suddenly it is a “personnel matter.” Suddenly we must wait for the facts.

Fine. Let’s wait for the facts.

But let’s apply that same caution, that same restraint, that same respect for process to the people this office prosecutes.

Because if the allegation is that public officials abused power, violated trust, hid relationships, misused positions or acted above the rules, then the U.S. Attorney’s Office had better be spotless. And it is not spotless. History says it is not even close.

This does not mean every case is wrong. It does not mean every defendant is innocent. It means the people with the power to accuse, indict, shame and imprison others must be held to a higher standard, not a lower one.

Before the Eastern District lectures anybody else about integrity, it needs to sweep around its own front door.

And somebody has to say it..