DC law firm reviewing La. State Police familiar with controversy – Louisiana Illuminator

With Louisiana State Police facing possible consequences for civil rights violations, the state’s incoming leaders will bring in a go-to law firm for law enforcement agencies under federal investigation. The firm has been paid millions to review policies following controversial deaths blamed on police in Baltimore and Chicago. 

The point person who will work with Louisiana has ties to former President Donald Trump and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Edward O’Callaghan joined Gov.-elect Jeff Landry and incoming Attorney General Murrill for a news conference Wednesday at the Superdome. They announced the state will hire O’Callaghan’s law firm, Washington, D.C.-based WilmerHale, to look into LSP policies and personnel.

“I’m aware of an already-existing United States Department of Justice pattern or practice inquiry that the LSP has been engaging in for many months under the current administration. Our office takes that matter very seriously,” Murrill told reporters. “So I will be conducting our own deep dive and review of all the pertinent facts, so that we’ll know best how to respond to this inquiry going forward.” 

The Justice investigation involves potential civil rights infractions in the May 10, 2019 in-custody death of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist, at the hands of white police officers following a vehicle pursuit outside of Monroe. 

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The federal probe was launched after Associated Press reports two years ago brought to light details that explained Greene’s death. Police body-worn camera footage shows state troopers as they beat, kicked, used their stun guns and dragged Greene on the ground while he was handcuffed. 

The FBI later invalidated a local coroner’s original conclusion that Greene died from injuries sustained when his car ran into a tree. Those autopsy findings aligned with the State Police version of events that justified their response.   

The incident also led to a legislative inquiry into whether then-LSP Superintendent Col. Kevin Reeves or Gov. John Bel Edwards concealed the circumstances surrounding Greene’s death or stalled public release of troopers’ body camera footage for nearly two years. The lawmakers concluded their work without verifying any allegations against the outgoing governor, though LSP leaders were excoriated for how they handled the incident.

Thus far, the four state troopers and a Union Parish sheriff’s deputy who apprehended Greene have yet to face significant consequences. A state judge has tossed nearly all of the obstruction of justice and malfeasance counts in their indictment, although Master Trooper Kory York still faces a negligent homicide charge.

Prior police reviews

O’Callaghan and WilmerHale have conducted similar law enforcement reviews in Illinois, Maryland and New York

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hired the firm to represent its police department when the Justice Department looked into potential civil rights violations in the October 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who video later revealed not to pose a threat to the officer who killed him. WilmerHale billed Chicago $2.7 million for its services.

Baltimore paid WilmerHale $1.2 million for its work involving a law enforcement review in the wake of the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray in police custody. The law firm assisted the city in reaching a consent decree with federal authorities to update its procedures.

In Rochester, New York, city leaders were criticized for spending $250,000 with WilmerHale to conduct an analysis of its police practices. Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated such reviews in 2021 for every city in the state with a police department after the murder of George Floyd during his May 2020 arrest in Minneapolis.

The Louisiana attorney general’s office has not responded to questions about whether O’Callaghan or WilmerHale are under state contract yet. Landry, the current attorney general, and Murrill, his number two leader in the office, don’t assume their new roles until their inauguration on Jan. 8. 

O’Callaghan’s resume

O’Callaghan is a Brooklyn native who earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and his law degree from New York University. After clerking for a federal judge, he became an assistant prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney Office for the Southern District of New York, handling work on terrorism and national security cases.

He did not immediately respond to the Illuminator’s interview requests made through WilmerHale.

In 2008, O’Callaghan made his initial foray into politics with U.S. Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign. He was part of the so-called “Truth Squad” for vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who faced allegations regarding her family and record as Alaska’s governor. 

O’Callaghan deflected attempts from the state legislature to conduct an ethics investigation into Palin for her firing of Alaska’s public safety commissioner. Lawmakers sought to reveal pressure Palin put on the commissioner to terminate her brother-in-law Mike Wooten, a state trooper who was involved in a messy child custody dispute with the governor’s sister.

Palin was eventually cleared of any ethics allegations, with the state personnel review board’s findings being issued a day before the 2008 presidential election.

From 2009 to 2017, O’Callaghan went to work in the private sector specializing in white-collar criminal defense. His clients included a manager for JPMorgan Chase who was in charge of Bruno Iksil, a trader who became known as the “London Whale” for losing $6.2 billion in investments.

O’Callaghan also represented Jeffrey Webb, a former FIFA executive who admitted he accepted bribes for the broadcast and hosting rights for the World Cup.

Trump administration work

In 2017, O’Callaghan joined the Justice Department as deputy AG of its National Security Division, where his work would later embroil him in allegations involving President Trump. 

In his 2022 memoir, former U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of New York’s Southern District accused O’Callaghan and other Justice officials of using their powers to improve Trump’s political standing.  

Berman said O’Callaghan reached out to him in September 2018 to urge that the U.S. attorney prosecute Gregory Craig, a White House attorney for former President Barack Obama who was accused of failing to disclose work he had done as a foreign agent on behalf of Ukraine. A case against Craig would “even things out” for prosecutions against Michael Cohen, Trump’s private attorney, and U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, R-New York, an ally of the president. 

Craig was charged but acquitted in 2019 for misrepresenting his lobbying work for Ukraine to the Justice Department. 

Cohen’s campaign finance, tax and bank fraud violations are well publicized. Collins pleaded guilty for his role in a securities fraud scheme connected to his family’s hefty investment in a pharmaceutical company that tanked when one of its products failed a key drug trial. 

O’Callaghan also argued against Trump’s indictment for obstruction of justice in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

He left the Justice Department in late 2019 and joined WilmerHale the following March. 

In addition to its Washington headquarters and seven U.S. locations, WilmerHale has offices in London, Belgium, China and Germany.