Landry says he won’t talk to New Orleans mayor until after Murrill indictment investigation

“I’m not going to be speaking to them personally until this investigation is done,” the governor said, “until I know who did what, what happened and why it happened and the way that it transpired,”

Moreno, a Democrat, took over as the elected leader of Louisiana’s most consequential city in January. But New Orleans’ relationship with Republican state leaders has deteriorated over the past few months.

The situation hit rock bottom July 2 when a New Orleans grand jury indicted Murrill over allegations she had threatened and attempted to intimidate New Orleans elected officials.

Charges against the attorney general have since been dropped, but Landry launched a Louisiana State Police investigation into the origins of the indictment. The governor and attorney general both have alleged the criminal proceedings were politically motivated by the city’s elected Democrats.

“No one believes that this grand jury just, you know, on its own took up this matter,” Landry told  Talk Louisiana host Jim Engster. “I’m interested to get to the bottom of it.”

Moreno has said she was not involved in orchestrating the indictment. 

In May, Murrill sent letters to several New Orleans officials, including Moreno, warning them that Landry, as governor, could remove them from office if they continued to pursue a special election for the newly combined New Orleans clerk of court job. 

A couple of weeks before the letters, the Republican-led legislature and Landry approved a law to merge the civil and criminal clerks of court offices in New Orleans. Every other court district in the state, along with their corresponding clerks’ offices, handles both types of cases. New Orleans has had separate offices for nearly 150 years.

The new statute blocked Calvin Duncan, a formerly incarcerated person who has been exonerated, from taking over as criminal court clerk after he won the November election for the job.

Murrill and Landry opposed Duncan’s candidacy during his campaign. They also pushed state lawmakers to vote to abolish the office after Duncan won his election but before he took office in early May.

The letters Murrill sent to New Orleans officials warning them not to hold a special election for the combined clerk’s role was the basis for the attorney general’s indictment.

On the radio Friday, Landry repeatedly implied that New Orleans officials were behind the indictment, though he offered no specifics about those allegations.

“We’re not going to allow people to weaponize our criminal justice system. I mean, that creates a banana republic state,” he said.

Landry also didn’t rule out holding a special legislative session to change laws surrounding the New Orleans court system, which remains bifurcated even with just one clerk. 

“The governor always gets an opportunity to keep a special session card in his desk drawer,” Landry said. “I’ve heard from a number of legislators who have been eager to maybe go back to determine ways that we can further correct some discrepancies in Orleans Parish.”