Morial Will Lead Urban League; Former New Orleans Mayor Parlays Local Résumé Into National Post

Well, the only correct observation is that "New Orleans' gain is the Urban League's loss." There is little doubt that Morial will do to the Urban League what Kwesi Mfume did to the NAACP - politicize, politicize, politicize. Another fine organziation headed down (you also may include the Patricia-Ireland-led Girl Scouts.)

I went to the Morial Convention Center once while Marc Morial was mayor. The convention center is named after Morial's father.

It was filthy. I never liked Morial, but the impression that that visit to the Morial Convention Center left with me about him is what I always think of first when I hear his name.

He couldn't even see to it that the convention center bearing his own father's name was well kept.

It is no secret that Morial is a highly ambitious politician who has wanted to occupy a position of national prominence. Now he joins the ranks of Jesse Jackson, Kweisi Nfume, Al Sharpton, and other race-baiters heading "civl rights" organizations. The only credit I give him as mayor of New Orleans is appointing a Police Superintendent who made serious efforts to stamp out police corruption.

Ah, for the days when the NAACP and the Urban League actually had black Americans' best interests in mind!

Well ain't that wonderful. Little Marc ran one of the most corrupt political machines in the nation (called "LIFE", ironically, which attempted to breathe life into the dead voters for 'Rat candidates). Our failure to seat Woody Jenkins in '96 in his victory over Mary Landrieu and launch a full-scale investigation of massive voter fraud in Orleans Parish was a serious black mark on the national GOP. No doubt, this is a reward for a job well done. :-(

I liked how he stamped his name and picture on everything in the city. I expected murals of him to show up everywhere eventually.

"I liked how he stamped his name and picture on everything in the city. I expected murals of him to show up everywhere eventually."

Oh, yes. I think Morial had this ego trip while mayor, trying to create a cult of personality of sorts and, perhaps, upstage his late father.

Bringing this old thread back for an update, in case some did not see this in the Sunday paper:

Feds raid Morial brother's home

FBI seeks evidence in City Hall corruption probe

Sunday February 15, 2004

By Gordon Russell and Frank Donze

Sharply intensifying the federal probe of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial's associates, federal agents with guns drawn used a battering ram early Saturday to force their way into the French Quarter townhouse owned by the ex-mayor's brother, Jacques Morial, and over several hours made off with computers and boxes of documents.

The 7:30 a.m. raid by agents of the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigations unit came less than two weeks after federal prosecutors subpoenaed a mountain of records from four members of Marc Morial's inner circle who landed lucrative city contracts during his eight years in office.

But Saturday's raid was triggered by a search warrant, rather than a mere subpoena. To get a warrant, prosecutors must convince a judge that there's probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, former federal prosecutor Shaun Clarke said.

Moreover, the timing suggested that prosecutors were worried evidence would be destroyed, Clarke said.

"Federal agents are no different from the rest of us," Clarke said, noting the sense of urgency underlying the raid. "They don't like to work on rainy Saturday mornings."

Jacques Morial's attorney, Pat Fanning, said he considered the warrant and raid to be overkill. Fanning said he had been expecting a subpoena and that his client had begun boxing documents in anticipation.

Greeting a sleeping Jacques Morial at gunpoint was "like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer," he said.

"If they want the records, they're going to get the records," said Fanning, who was a federal prosecutor earlier in his career.

Clarke said the move to heavier legal ammunition means the probe is further along than was apparent from the earlier subpoenas.

"I think this is a clear indication that this is no longer simply a preliminary inquiry," Clarke said. "When they get to the point of issuing search warrants, nine times out of 10 somebody's going to end up getting indicted."

'Kingmaker'

But Fanning said he has no reason to believe Jacques Morial is the target of an investigation.

"I don't think they're going to find anything that's going to lead them to any evidence of any criminal activity," Fanning said.

He also said the amount of evidence of criminal activity that prosecutors must present to obtain a search warrant is minimal.

"All they have to do is go in and say, 'We know a crime has been committed and the evidence is at Jacques Morial's house,' " he said. "The burden of proof is not high."

Jacques Morial did not return calls seeking comment, nor did the former mayor, who now lives in New York and runs the National Urban League. A family spokesman said the Morials would make a public statement in the next few days.

Federal prosecutors have given no indication to date that Marc Morial is a target of their yearlong probe, and Fanning, who has counseled the former mayor, said he doesn't believe Marc Morial has any reason "to be in touch with any agents or any lawyers, as far as I know." But it has become increasingly obvious in recent weeks that the spiraling probe is centered on contracts awarded by Morial's administration, which ran City Hall from 1994 to 2002.

Four of the men who answered federal subpoenas two weeks ago -- Stan "Pampy" Barre, Glenn Haydel, Roy Rodney and Bob Tucker -- were among Marc Morial's closest associates and greatest beneficiaries. A fifth man subpoenaed, Jimmie Woods, was less visibly tied to the mayor, but also landed a major city contract.

Jacques Morial, 42, an investment banker and political operative who has never held a government job, had long been considered among his brother's closest confidants. Although he has never run for office, Morial is no stranger to politics.

He has spent the past 25 years working on countless political campaigns, with his value as a trusted adviser and strategist rising as the years went by. But from his first campaign, as a teenage worker for his father, former Mayor Dutch Morial, to recent contests involving his brother and many others, he has stayed in the background.

He would rather be "a kingmaker than a king," Dutch Morial said of his younger son in 1989.

Tactics questioned

Saturday's raid involved about a dozen agents, two of whom stood sentry at Morial's stoop while other agents went in and out of his two-story townhouse in the 900 block of North Rampart Street across the street from Louis Armstrong Park. Initially, agents emerged with small items in plastic bags. Larger boxes followed.

Jacques Morial stayed inside as the agents went about their business, which included taking numerous photographs. Early in the morning, Morial's sister, Monique Morial, who is a lawyer, stood outside chatting with Fanning. She left shortly after 9 a.m.

Fanning described his client as very cooperative and, though acknowledging that the agents were simply doing their job, questioned the aggressiveness of their tactics.

He said agents arrived at 7:25 a.m. and gave his client, who he said was sleeping upstairs in his underwear, "one minute and ten seconds" to answer the door.

The armed agents then forced their way in, using a heavy black steel battering ram. Some damage to the door was visible, with several long splinters of wood littering Morial's stoop.

"Obviously, we're not happy about that," Fanning said.

Raymond Gregson Jr., a special agent with the IRS criminal investigation unit, which coordinated the raid, more or less confirmed Fanning's account, but said that agents had afforded Morial plenty of time to answer the door.

"We did what we had to do," Gregson said, adding that such raids can be quite dangerous. Morial was given more time than most to answer the door, and that agents used loudspeakers to alert him of their presence, Gregson said. He said the government will repair any damage to the door.

Role in probe unclear

Unlike the five members of the Morial inner circle ordered to produce financial records two weeks ago, Jacques Morial is not known to have had government contracts.

Barre, a restaurateur, became a partner in a large airport-concessions contract; Haydel, Morial's uncle, held a valuable consulting contract with the Regional Transit Authority; Tucker, a businessman who was chairman of the RTA under Morial, was partner in a company that oversaw construction projects at Louis Armstrong International Airport; and Rodney, a lawyer, served as legal counsel for the agency that leases city land to Harrah's casino.

Though authorities have not publicly stated what crimes they might be investigating, observers say the inquiry likely revolves around possible violations of the Hobbs Act, which prohibits kickbacks and bribes for government contracts.

Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, noted that the government also could be looking into whether Jacques Morial had any business relationships with companies holding a city contract.

Goyeneche said the government's ability to persuade a judge to issue a search warrant means compelling evidence was presented, perhaps an affidavit from a witness who saw the evidence in the house recently.

"It may indicate that somebody, or more than one person, is cooperating and providing information to the government," Goyeneche said.

Fanning said the search warrant sought records from a variety of corporations with which Jacques Morial is affiliated, but he did not name them. State records show that Morial has been involved in about a dozen corporations, but do not make clear what function these entities perform.

Jacques Morial had a key role in one government event that has attracted federal scrutiny, the 2000 meeting in New Orleans of the Inter-American Development Bank. A number of vendors that helped stage the prestigious event didn't get paid, to the tune of at least $500,000.

Jacques Morial was heavily involved in planning the event, although he has said that he acted strictly as a volunteer. People associated with the event have said that the failure to pay certain vendors resulted merely from an inability to raise enough money.

Political motives alleged

Fanning suggested Saturday's raid was rooted in the political hostility toward the Morial circle that he senses in New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and U.S. Rep. David Vitter, both of whom have donned the mantle of reformers seeking to root out municipal corruption.

"I was a little surprised when they broke the door down this morning that Mayor Nagin and Congressman Vitter weren't there with them," Fanning said.

He added: "They obviously have an interest in this. Mayor Nagin has made comments about the investigation. Congressman Vitter went and got money to finance the investigation. I'm sure they all have an interest in doing whatever they can to the Morial people.

"Congressman Vitter is running for the Senate," he added. "You've got a Republican conservative white base, and you went and got money to go and investigate black people in New Orleans."

Nagin, who was in Washington, D.C., for the annual Mardi Gras celebration hosted by Louisiana politicians, had little to say in response to Fanning's remarks. He said he has steered clear of the inquiry.

"I don't know anything about this," Nagin said. "I don't know what's going on. I don't have any interaction with them (the federal agents) other than public record requests. I haven't talked to the feds in months, so I couldn't tell you what they're up to."

Vitter, who was also at the Washington celebration, said his gung-ho support of corruption investigations has nothing to do with race.

"Louisiana citizens understand that we must clean up our politics to attract good jobs for all our children, black and white," Vitter said. "That's what it's all about.

"My strong support of efforts to investigate corruption at the Jefferson Parish Courthouse isn't about race. Nor is my work getting federal help to (Police) Chief Eddie Compass and DA Eddie Jordan in their fight against corruption. It's just a shame that desperate people are trying to play the race card."

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And now, "Mama" Morial to the rescue!