With Labor Day approaching and Jeff Landry steamrolling his way into the Governor’s mansion, we’d expect to start seeing a few “September Surprises.” And when you’re John Bel Edwards (JBE) with all the levers of the state government at your disposal – and time is running out to stop your arch nemesis – it’s time to hit the panic button.

Well, here it is – a last-minute attempt by John Bel’s Ethics Board to slow the Jeff Landry for Governor train down – and their charge is quite simply a giant “nothing-burger.”

First, let’s take a look at JBE’s highly partisan ethics board.

The appointed Chairman of the so-called “Ethics” Commission is La Koshia Roberts, Esquire. A quick search of her Twitter feed exposes what liberal shrill she is – calling Leader Scalise and Senator Kennedy “seditionists” – tweeting for Biden to pack the Supreme Court – and making fun of a violent physical attack on Senator Rand Paul that left him hospitalized. Not to mention La Koshia attacking Trump again, again and again.

@SteveScalise @SenJohnKennedy @johnkennedyla Are you happy now?? Seditionists.

— La Koshia R. Roberts, Esq. (@Reconda41) January 6, 2021

I see no lessons were learned from 2016…
Media asking Biden, Harris, et al WILL they "pack courts," WHILE Rs ARE packing them and have been for almost four years.
A hypothetical consequence of an election that's not occurred is the new "but her emails."#Redherring #Juststop

— La Koshia R. Roberts, Esq. (@Reconda41) October 11, 2020

I now understand your neighbor's frustrations.

— La Koshia R. Roberts, Esq. (@Reconda41) May 13, 2020

But La Koshia is not alone in her leftist, partisan bent. Next up is JBE’s appointment of Mark Ellis, a Democrat Pastor who decried Trump’s “sickness”. But serving with them is another JBE appointee, Jacqueline Scott that puts her money where her mouth is.

Jacqueline is a trial lawyer specializing in “Personal Injury,” “Truck Accidents,” “Wrongful Death,” and “Criminal Defense.” And all those lawsuits have fueled her donations to, you guessed it: Democrats. Jacqueline has given over five figures of campaign donations to the likes of Mary Landrieu, Foster Campbell, Paul Carmouche, and of course, JBE himself.

JBE has stacked the Ethics Commission with double the amount of Democrats on the Board than Republicans. With the clock running out, it should be no surprise that this Democrat board is dropping a “September Surprise” as the clock runs out on this election.

On August 29th, just 32 days before votes are cast – The Hayride can confirm that JBE’s ethics commission has filed a single charge against Jeff Landry. And for what might you ask? A supposed paperwork violation regarding a flight the Attorney General took over two years ago to attend the Attorney General Alliance (AGA) Conference. AGA is a bipartisan non-profit organization formed by the Conference of Western Attorneys General. AG Landry was a featured speaker for the event and was on official business.

Also in the crosshairs of JBE’s Commission is a private citizen, Greg Mosing. Mosing owned the plane that flew Attorney General Landry to the conference – at no expense to the taxpayers. Mr. Mosing, a successful businessman, has zero business before the Attorney General’s Office or the State of Louisiana. Mr. Mosing is not a lobbyist, a government contractor, or anything other than a long time friend of the Attorney General.

He is a retired private citizen.

Greg Mosing and Mr. Landry have been friends for years, and that friendship now has him labeled as a target by JBE and collateral damage in an attempt to stop Landry.

Mosing doesn’t appear to be rolling over and plans to fight the Board. Here’s Mosing statement:

“John Bel’s “unethical” ethics board–made up of majority democrat appointees to smear his political opponents–is attempting to sully my name because I have been friends with Jeff Landry for over 20 years, and Jeff is the leading candidate to replace him.

After two years of investigating, the “unethics” board has made up charges against me because they claim Mr. Landry did not file an unnecessary piece of paper.

I retired after developing successful businesses. My family has served the Acadiana community for over 70 years. I am not a lobbyist. I have no business before the State of Louisiana nor before the Attorney General.

It is pathetic-straight out of the Democrats’ election interference playbook. We have seen this play out on the national level. It was only a matter of time until it came to Louisiana.

This witch hunt is a desperate attempt to attack a political opponent on the eve of the election.”

And Landry, never one to back down, is pushing back hard in his statement:

“Attorney General Landry has always, in good faith, complied with the rules and regulations of the Board of Ethics. It is sad, but not surprising that right before the election, John Bel’s ethics board decided to bring up a two-year-old false claim to damage not only Attorney General Landry’s reputation but his longtime friend Mr. Mosing’s as well. Mr. Mosing is not a lobbyist and has no business with the State—he does not deserve this type of character assassination,” said Kate Kelly, spokesperson for Jeff Landry.

A deeper dive into the so-called charges leads us to question exactly what JBE’s Board is all riled up over. The charges state that Landry failed to file a single sheet of paper called a Form 413 form, which discloses gifts of travel. If this was a campaign for a political trip it should have been reported on Campaign Finance reports as an in-kind contribution. But this wasn’t political – this was official business. And state law specifically allows for “complimentary travel” – La. R.S. 42:1115.2, states that “public servants may receive complimentary reasonable transportation”.

For the travel to be allowed – First, the official has to certify that it was official business that related to the duties of the office held; Second, the official has to approve the acceptance of the travel. One would only assume that Landry would approve his own travel – so check and check. So what are Landry – and even more oddly, Mr. Mosing – being charged with? Not filing a single sheet of paper – the form 413.

It’s important to note that private air travel is a common occurrence for our state’s top leaders. We know JBE does it all the time. Reports of him traveling to fundraisers, Washington Mardi Gras, and other trips have been documented in the news for years. So, we pulled up the Ethics Disclosure forms for JBE. Would it surprise you if we told you there was not a single form 413 filed for air travel for the Governor? Yup, not one. Hypocrisy, anyone?

And for the trips mentioned in the news articles above – were there campaign finance disclosures of payment by JBE’s campaign? We couldn’t find it. And these are just a sampling of flights that made their way into news reports. What about the undoubtedly numerous other flights that Governor Bel Edwards hopped on? You’d think there’d be at least one 413 form – but there isn’t.

Speaking with campaign finance lawyers who typically work with the Ethics Board – I’m told that when a paperwork mistake like this is found, the Ethics Board typically works in private to correct any potential minor infractions and then moves on. That’s not the case here – and they’ve now stepped straight into the final month of the campaign and embroiled a private citizen at the same time over a paperwork dispute that will likely be resolved after the election and amount to nothing. But in the meantime, you can bet Landry’s opponents and the hacks over at The Advocate will try to make a mountain out of molehill.

Will a single sheet of paper be able to stop the Landry Train’s momentum – Doubt it. But JBE is definitely weaponizing the State Board of Ethics to at least try – sounds like election interference to me.

UPDATE: You can read the spurious charges in the case here.