Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (Wiki Commons)
The Hill reports the Republican Louisiana governor has pledged to save Republican Louisiana AG Liz Murrill from a grand jury indictment for threatening local politicians on Thursday.
Murrill (R) was indicted by a grand jury in connection with an investigation over alleged threats she made against New Orleans officials, former Judge Laurie White confirmed Thursday.
“The grand jury has returned an indictment, it is now a criminal matter,” said White, who was appointed as a special prosecutor in the case, told reporters at a press briefing outside the courthouse.
The grand jury returned its 16-count indictment following weeks of deliberation, charging Murrill with eight counts of malfeasance and eight counts of intimidation. Orleans Criminal District Judge Leon Roche subsequently issued a warrant for her arrest and set her bond at $25,000 for each charge — totaling $400,000.
The charges arose from accusations that Murrill threatened local public officials in New Orleans, including Mayor Helena Moreno (D) and District Attorney Jason Williams, warning them in May that their jobs could be at stake and that they could face consequences by pushing back on a new law passed by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature combining the city’s criminal and district clerks of court.
“We’re very interested in elected officials in New Orleans not being intimidated or threatened by letter or any other way,” White said at the press briefing, according to the Hill.
But following a longstring of pardons by President Donald Trump and claims of pardon abuse and corruption by the White House Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) quickly offered his support to Murrill and the promise of a pardon should she get convicted by a jury of her peers.
“I would like to inform the great citizens of Louisiana who care about the rule of law, that our fabulous @AGLizMurrill will not have to worry about having her reputation tarnished by this kangaroo grand jury or the Orleans Kangaroo court as I will pardon her as fast as the law allows,” Landry wrote on X. “The criminal justice system is a circus at its finest in Orleans and we will not have any of that!”
Judge White appeared unfazed by the governor’s threat to upend a jury’s decision and determined to move forward with prosecution.
“Good, let’s get her convicted and then he can pardon her,” White said.
New Orleans officials, who are largely Black Democrats, have found themselves repeatedly at odds with a Republican-dominated legislature overseen by white lawmakers.