A personal attorney for Gov. Jeff Landry delivered sweeping criticism this week to the Louisiana Board of Ethics for what he called “abusive” investigations into elected officials’ conduct. 

“Currently, the board’s vast investigatory powers are dangerous, unwarranted and threaten well-established fundamental constitutional rights,” Stephen Gelé said at a six-hour legislative hearing Wednesday in Baton Rouge focused on the ethics board’s role in government.

“The board, especially in the past couple of years, has not hesitated to use this power to bully respondents through years of costly and burdensome investigations,” he said. 

Gelé joins a growing chorus of political professionals who have criticized the board’s approach and professionalism in recent months. They might feel emboldened to find fault with the board because Landry, who became governor in January, hasn’t been shy about his own frustrations with the board. 

Since becoming attorney general in 2016, Landry has been reprimanded a few times by the board for ethics violations that range from missing campaign finance reporting deadlines to misusing campaign funds to pay off his auto loan. 

At present, Gelé is representing Landry in the governor’s 14-month dispute with the board over Landry’s failure to disclose trips he took on a political donor’s private plane to and from Hawaii. The flights were taken in 2021, when Landry was attorney general. 

Yet Gelé’s remarks this week were not inspired just by Landry’s case, he said. The ethics board has treated many of his clients poorly.

“It’s related to multiple cases and my experience overall,” Gelé said in an interview after the meeting. “This is not a Jeff Landry problem. This is an endemic problem.”

The ethics board oversees elected officials, political candidates and public employees for potential violations of state ethics laws. People can confidentially report concerns about government officials to the board, which then decides whether the matter merits further investigation. 

Gelé asserts the ethics board has been vague about how it interprets laws, particularly when it comes to using campaign and political action committee (PAC) funds  for “personal use,” which is forbidden. The rules sometimes change about what the board will permit without explanation, he said. 

Gelé also characterized the board’s investigations as too aggressive, with unreasonable demands for documents and sworn statements that are not always needed. It also spends a large amount of resources for petty offenses. Clients end up running legal bills defending themselves against violations that sometimes involve no more than a few hundred dollars, Gelé said. 

Perhaps most importantly to Gelé, he believes the ethics board is placing restrictions on campaign and PAC spending that violate the First Amendment. His line of thinking is aligned with the controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which upended federal laws restricting corporate and labor union spending in elections. 

“I believe the board needs a reevaluation of its mission so that it’s no longer conducting excessive, abusive investigations and costing people constitutional dollars,” Gelé said during Wednesday’s legislative.

“This all drains First Amendment dollars, which should not be drained,” he said.

Gelé said he has had both Democratic and Republican clients, though he is publicly aligned with conservative causes. He is also board chairman for the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, a conservative think tank that works closely with the Landry administration. 

In his remarks at the hearing this week, Gelé suggested the ethics board could be targeting Republicans for investigations, a notion that the ethics board’s administrator rebutted.

“It certainly has not been kind to Republicans,” Gelé said of the board.

Kathleen Allen, the top staff member for the ethics board, pushed back on the assertion that her organization was motivated by politics. She said her agency doesn’t track whether the people it investigates are Republicans, Democrats or independents, and party affiliation doesn’t influence their views. 

“You would be surprised to find out how some of our board members vote sometimes,” Allen told lawmakers at the hearing.

The current board is made up of 11 members, seven of whom former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, selected from a list of nominees the leaders of Louisiana’s private colleges submitted. As Landry is governor longer, he will be able to replace Edwards’ appointees.

Ethics board members also face additional restrictions meant to insulate them from political influence. For example, unlike almost all other state boards, they are not allowed to be political campaign donors.

Nevertheless, one of Landry’s first acts in office was to approve a new law that gives the governor more control over the board’s makeup.

Starting in January, the board will expand from 11 to 15 seats, and neither Landry nor the Legislature, which selects four members, will have to pick from candidate lists private university presidents provide. 

Lawmakers indicated Wednesday they will be looking to make more changes to ethics laws next year as well.

Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, is chairman of the Louisiana House and Governmental Affairs Committee that oversees the ethics agency. He expressed concern that elected officials and public officials being investigated don’t have enough tools to push back against an investigation into their affairs before it starts. He also said he thinks the board’s rulings on political action committee activity have been too restrictive.

“Y’all are the watchdog for ethics in Louisiana, but I guess, to his point, who watches over you all?” Beaulieu asked at the hearing.

Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, said the board needed to be more transparent about its procedures and the board’s meetings should be streamed online.

He also questioned the confidentiality that surrounds the complaints made to the board that result in investigations. McMakin suggested the person making a complaint shouldn’t be able to remain anonymous.

The board’s investigations are confidential, in part, to protect whistleblowers who might want to come forward about violations despite professional and personal risk. But McMakin suggested the privacy provisions are too broad in scope. 

The current conduct of the board is also annoying, McMakin said. Just last week, its members had to cancel a meeting because not enough were able to attend in person, which the lawmaker found inexcusable.

McMakin said he was also offended when a board member, former Louisiana House Clerk Alfred “Butch” Speer, made a sarcastic comment about one of Landry’s large political donors paying for upgrades to the ethics board’s meeting room .

“Do you think they wouldn’t be sarcastic if people were watching them?” on a live stream of the ethics board meeting, McMakin said.

What started as a one day concert in 1974 to entertain 150 French-speaking journalists gathered in Lafayette — considered the heart of Cajun country — has grown into a three-day event and possibly one of the largest Cajun and Zydeco festivals held globally, organizers said. And, they note, the entire event is free.

Barry Jean Ancelet, one of the event’s organizers, said when the idea formed 50 years ago, nobody knew if anyone would even come out to hear the music.

“Cajun music at that time was largely considered ‘old people’s music,’” he said. “You’ve got to remember, we were in the throes of Rock ‘n’ Roll at the time. The people here loved it when they encountered it in dance halls, but this concert was designed to call attention to the music in a different way, to point out its value. They had to sit — not dance — and pay attention. And they ended up hearing it in a different way. It was so successful. We ended up turning it into an annual event where we could call positive attention to this important asset and get people to consider it.”

The festival, now held annually in Lafayette’s Girard Park, brings together multi-generations of musicians and artists who annually fight to preserve a culture that continues to evolve.

“We’ve always been about celebrating the past and handing it off to the future,” Ancelet said. “If you value and respect evolution, the culture will produce things that will continue to surprise you. It all comes out in the wash. What’s good will last and what’s not, won’t.”

Festival co-founder Pat Mould said the festival is a “self-celebration of who we are, how we live, what we eat, the music and how we speak.”

“If you know nothing and want to learn about the culture, this one weekend out of the year allows you to find out everything. Everything you want to know is represented at the festival. It’s a quick study of Cajun and Creole living,” he said.

On tap musically for the Friday through Sunday event are performances by 60 musicians — all homegrown talent — including Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Wayne Toups, CJ Chenier, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, The Revelers, Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet and The Lost Bayou Ramblers.

On Friday, contemporary artists will pay tribute to the 1974 concert house band that included Zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier, Cajun accordion maker Marc Savoy, the Balfa Brothers, a Cajun music ensemble of five brothers, Cajun accordion players Nathan Abshire and Blackie Forrester, and Jimmy C. Newman, a country music and Cajun singer-songwriter and long-time star of the Grand Ole Opry.

“Get ready for Louisiana pure fun,” said Carrier, who’s scheduled to perform with his band on Sunday. “Get ready to eat some really good food and have the time of your life.”

“People all over the word have these dates circled on their calendar,” he continued. “It’s an event that helps the younger generations continue the traditions. I’m a third generation Zydeco musician. This is a family oriented festival that brings people together of all ages.”

Riley, who’s been performing at this festival since 1988, said he keeps returning for several reasons but especially because it helps preserve the culture.

“It’s important to see us on stage, singing and speaking in French. That has an effect on people who come to see us and helps them fall in love with the culture,” he said.

“There are a lot of events leading up to the weekend that focuses on the importance of the language, the culture, the food and, of course, the music. There’s none other that celebrates it like this one. I think it’s the biggest complete celebration of everything Cajun. It’s also inclusive of different generations, bands with lineage. That’s key,” he said.

Riley, now 55, said he’s very proud that his three children all play music.

“It’s a beautiful thing for my family and others like mine,” he said. “Having your kids play with you is awesome. Most kids don’t want to have anything to do with what their parents do. Mine, think what I do is fun and it is.”

Riley said when he first started there weren’t too many young bands playing Cajun music.

“There was real fear that the music would die off and dissipate like the language,” he recalled. “The opposite has happened. More young folks are preserving and playing this music than ever. The Zydeco scene down here is packed with young people. It’s super vibrant and alive. The same with the Cajun scene as well.”

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