James O’Keefe, who was charged along with three others with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony, has issued a statement saying “no one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.”

The self-identified “investigative journalist” says he could have used a different approach when he and the others posed as telephone company repair people to enter Landrieu’s office, but his intent was to find out whether or not Sen. Landrieu was avoiding constituents’ phone calls.

Read it for yourself.

Several sources have confirmed that Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu will announce tomorrow (Tuesday) that he is running for mayor after all. Why the back-and-forth Hamlet routine — again? That’s probably the first thing Landrieu will have to explain. What’s certain is that Landrieu’s entry into the race will turn it upside down. He probably enters as the frontrunner. The big question is, can he close this time?

Another big question: Will any other candidates bow out? Most adversely affected by Landrieu’s decision will be all the white candidates except Rob Couhig, the race’s only Republican. Leslie Jacobs and John Georges have both said privately that they would not run if Landrieu were in the race. That he waited this long is not going to play well with their top supporters, but that’s show biz … and politics.

I have it from several sources very close to Landrieu, including some who actually heard it from him, that he called all the candidates today to let them know, after telling Gov. Bobby Jindal as well. Which means, of course, that this news won’t stay bottled up for long.

Read the rest of this entry »

In a conference committee meeting held today to resolve differences in the House and Senate versions of the 2010 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bills, the committee declined to include the Landrieu/Vitter “Pump to the River” amendment as part of the legislation. The amendment, co-sponsored by Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter, provided funding for the Corps of Engineers to conduct a peer-reviewed, feasibility and cost analysis study on the proposed plans for permanent pump stations at New Orleans three outfall canals.

Aaron Saunders, communications director for Landrieu’s office, says the senator attended the meeting and attempted to explain to the House and Senate Energy and Water Committee, that the amendment had the unanimous, bipartisan support of the Louisiana congressional delegation, Jefferson Parish Council, New Orleans City Council and the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board. House members of the committee objected to the amendment’s language, saying they believed it would delay protecting New Orleans. Landrieu countered by stressing the 18-month feasibility study would take place simultaneously while the Corps initiated “option-neutral” construction of the pump stations.

There are three proposals — Option 1, 2 and 2a — for constructing the pump stations at the 17^th Street, Orleans Avenue and London Avenue canals. Option 1 would allow for new pumps that would only be used during a storm event when floodgates would be closed, and the newer pumps would work in tandem with Sewerage and Water Board pumps to drain rainwater. Numerous critics of this option have said the plan still relies on pumping water through the designed and storm-weakened floodwalls of the outfall canals.

Option 2 would create permanent, all-purpose pumping stations, used when the floodgates are open or closed. Under Option 2, outfall canals would be deepened and paved, so water would gravity-flow to the pump stations, and some of the S & W pumps would no longer be necessary. Option 2A, or “Pump to the River,” would provide all of the improvements of Option 2, and would include a plan to add a pumping station in Old Metairie to send water directly to the Mississippi River.

The Corps has maintained that it only has congressional authority to build Option 1. In a report from earlier this year, the Corps estimated that Option 1 would cost approximately $804 million; Option 2, $3.4 billion and Option 2A, $3.5 billion.

Despite Landrieu’s attempts to get committee members to understand the amendment would not prevent the Corps from starting the project, committee members chose to drop the amendment. Landrieu says she hasn’t given up the fight, adding that today’s failure was prompted by actions from the Corps of Engineers.

“Today’s decision by House and Senate Energy and Water Committee leadership to drop our Pump to the River amendment is unconscionable,” Sen. Landrieu says. “This move seriously impedes our progress in establishing a truly integrated system of storm surge protection and interior drainage for Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. Today, the people in harm’s way – the citizens in Southeast Louisiana — have been failed once again by Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps’ arrogance has led them to ignore the unanimous voice of local leaders and residents, ignore public hearings and ignore a vigorous floor debate on this issue. The Corps stubbornness ultimately subverted the House-Senate negotiations and today the bureaucracy won the battle. But this fight is not over. I will work closely with other Louisiana Delegation members in the coming weeks to take this issue directly to the White House and seek all available means to advance the Pump to the River project.”

• The Smoking Gun has now obtained the police report of Stormy Daniels‘ arrest, complete with mugshot:

In a setback to her nascent U.S. Senate campaign, porn star Stormy Daniels (real name: Stephanie Clifford) was arrested Saturday afternoon for domestic violence after she allegedly battered her husband because she was “upset because the way the laundry had been done.”

• OMG U GUYZ MARY LNDRU IS COSPNSRING A BILL 2 MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO TXT WHILE DRIVING …

• As Gov. Bobby Jindal hits the fundraising trail again (hello, Destin, Fla.!), The Old River Road blog updates its “Where’s Bobby?” map …

• That ginormous beehive in the French Quarter? Score bees 1, beekeepers and reporters 0 …

• 2009 Krewe of Orpheus rider Joan Rivers has a new cable show, How’d You Get So Rich?, and some of the first episodes will feature Blaine Kern, Ronnie Lamarque, and the guy who invented Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. She was plugging the show at the annual Television Critics’ summer press tour when she dropped this nugget:

Meanwhile, Joan Rivers hopes Leno bombs at 10.

Rivers showed up at the tour to pitch her new TV Land show, “How’d You Get So Rich?” But naturally some critic asked her what she thought of the whole Leno/O’Brien switcheroo.

In case you’ve been living under a flat rock, Rivers had been the permanent “Tonight Show” guest host for years in the ’80s, but left to go to Fox when she learned she was not on the short list to replace Johnny Carson as permanent “Tonight” host. Leno got that gig.

“I think it’s brilliant that Leno is at 10 p.m., because America can get bored more easily and go to sleep earlier,” Rivers snarked.

• … and, after three hours of judges’ instructions, the federal jury in Alexandria, Va. is finally settling in to decide the fate of former Rep. William Jefferson. We asked Clancy DuBos for the over-under on Jefferson’s prospects, and he said this in an email:

Not less than 4 hours, in my opinion, because I think it will be a compromise verdict…I think he will be convicted on at least 4 to 6 counts, and hung or acquitted on the rest. A conviction on even one is devastating.

Serio-comic: Porn queen Stormy Daniels and restaurateur Mike Serio caucus behind the register at Serio’s Deli.

Lunch at Serio’s Deli in the CBD is usually a workaday affair — guys with ties thrown over their shoulders, scarfing one of Mike Serio’s excellent po-boys or muffulettas. Today’s lunchseekers got something a little extra with their olive salad and red gravy: an appearance by Stormy Daniels, the Baton Rouge native and adult-video star who’s stirred up a lot of fuss by threatening to take on Sen. David Vitter in the 2010 Louisiana Senate race. It was billed as a stop on her “listening tour,” in which she attempted to glean the wisdom of average Joes and Boudreauxes on topics from deficit spending to health care.

Daniels may be a political novice, but she’s hardly an inexperienced businesswoman, having just written, directed and starred in her own personal Citizen Kane, a feature titled Operation Desert Stormy. According to her biography in Adult Video News:

While any look at Stormy’s career is bound to emphasize stardom and glamour, there are many other facets to the woman as well. An inventive writer, she was only with Wicked for four months when she wrote her first screenplay, Kink. Her contract was soon expanded to include writing. She directed her first film, One Night In Vegas in 2004, and true recognition of her diverse talents came at the 2006 AVN Awards, where she won both Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for The Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre.

The presence of the star of The Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre had an electric effect on the lunch crowd. iPhones and cameras were (mostly shyly) produced, and Daniels — in a flattering snakeskin-patterned blouse and knee-length black skirt — was happy to pose with all who asked. (The outfit was attractive but not too revealing, falling somewhere between Mary Landrieu and Britney Spears‘ work wardrobes.) And the political questioning she faced from the mostly-male crowd was mostly polite and kind, except for the wag who brought up “the Bush doctrine.”

Carpe-ing the diem, Gambit cornered Stormy to get her views on some of the pressing issues facing America today….

Political party? “I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I’m independent.”

Abortion? “I’m pro-abortion. I mean, pro-choice. Actually, I’m pro-condom.”

Gay marriage? “I believe in everyone having equal rights. Who is the government to tell two people what they can and can’t do?”

She was reluctant to take questions about her possible opponent (”I’m tired of talking about David Vitter; I’d like to hear David Vitter talk about me“), but did offer an opinion when asked whether her personal beliefs were closer to those of Landrieu or Vitter: she made a face.

“That’s like being asked to choose between….” Her voice trailed off.

“So you’re not crazy about either of them?”

“Is anybody?” she asked.

Back by the cash register, restaurateur Mike Serio was philosophical about all the fuss. “At first I thought it was a joke,” he said of Daniels’ appearance. Did he still think it was a joke? “Yeah, I think it is,” he said.

“I don’t know if they’re doing this to try to embarrass David Vitter. But probably,” Serio said, adding that he had voted for the senator before and would “probably” vote for Vitter again. Then he turned philosophical.

“Look, I believe in God,” he said. “Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. You gain forgiveness when you admit your mistakes, and then you’re on the right path.”

Then he was gone before he could clarify which candidate he was talking about.

Sources in Baton Rouge confirm U.S. Sen Mary Landrieu will recommend U.S. Attorney Jim Letten this afternoon.

Edited to add: Landrieu will also nominate Michael Bagneris as district judge to replace Stanwood DuVal, and Lt. Col. Genny May of the Louisiana State Police as the first woman U.S. marshal from Louisiana.

Following yesterday’s CBS News story reporting there have been numerous complaints against Doug Whitmer, chief of staff of FEMA’s Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office in New Orleans, Sen. Mary Landrieu is calling for Whitmer’s resignation. According to CBS, there is an ongoing investigation surrounding 80 employment-related complaints that have been filed by the New Orleans FEMA office staff since January 1, and 30 of those charges, including sexual harassment, involve Whitmer.

In a press release, Landrieu expressed her frustration.

“We have seen examples of extraordinary waste, fraud and abuse in contractors hired by the government. In this case, it is actually the management of our FEMA office in New Orleans. The clean-up process should begin with the resignation of Doug Whitmer.”