James B. Letten | |
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United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 2005 |
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Appointed by | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Eddie J. Jordan, Jr. |
Jim Letten is U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.[1]
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After finishing his law degree at the Tulane University School of Law, Letten worked for Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick, Sr. for four years and then began his career as a prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice. He was involved in the successful prosecution of former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards[2] and former state representative David Duke.[3]
Letten is a Republican, having been appointed to the U.S. Attorney's position by President George W. Bush. Nonetheless, when Republicans lost the Presidency to Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, many Democrats, including U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, took the unusual step of urging the new President to ignore partisan labels and reappoint Letten.[4]
Unquestionably part of the reason for Letten's bipartisan support was his prosecution of a number of ongoing indictments and trials, including two in which Mose Jefferson was defendant.[5] The instability in eastern Louisiana after a series of hurricanes, notably Hurricane Katrina, was an explicit factor in Landrieu's decision.[6]
On 2009 September 25 the Times-Picayune editorially praised Letten and the FBI for "bringing to justice" Bill Hubbard, who resigned as Saint John Parish president after receiving bribes of $20,000 from contractors.[7]
On February 1, 2010, Letten recused himself from the case of James O'Keefe and O'Keefe's three co-defendants.