In recent weeks, many Louisiana voters have seen mailers and television ads attacking State Treasurer John Fleming in the U.S. Senate primary runoff. Most of these attacks are not coming directly from Congresswoman Julia Letlow’s official campaign. So, who is paying for these attack ads?

Today, we will “follow the money”  and will see how Governor Jeff Landry appears to be connected to multiple Super PACs and PACs who are attacking John Fleming and supporting Julia Letlow in Louisiana’s Senate election.

According to an article from the Times-Picayune last month, the governor has allegedly raised money for two of the major groups attacking John Fleming: The Accountability Project and MAGA Energy.

“Landry has inserted himself into the campaign by raising money for two groups associated with him – the Accountability Project and MAGA Energy – to attack Fleming. Both groups are organized in a way that doesn’t require them to disclose their donors and are headed by two of his key campaign associates, Jay Connaughton and Jason Hebert.

Landry held an event at the Governor’s Mansion on April 20 with about 15 carbon capture and sequestration executives, said someone who attended the meeting but spoke on condition of anonymity. Landry warned the group that a Fleming victory would harm their industry. The executives then heard a pitch to raise $1.5 million to defeat Fleming, according to the source.

In a brief interview, Landry acknowledged holding the meeting but wouldn’t discuss it …”

Let’s start by focusing on the first Super PAC listed above—The Accountability Project.

The Accountability Project

The Accountability Project‘s website provides very little information about the group itself and focuses mainly on criticizing US Senate candidate John Fleming. At the bottom of the Super PAC’s website, there is a legal disclaimer that says “Paid for by Accountability Project. Not paid for by any candidate or candidate committee”.

The only way for Louisiana voters to find concrete information about this Super PAC is by looking at the group’s most recent FEC filing.

Who are some of the biggest donors to The Accountability Project?

For its out-of-state donors, The Accountability Project received over ONE MILLION dollars from Securing American Greatness Inc and $500k from the Alliance for Economic Freedom. Those two groups alone have dumped over a million dollars into this Super PAC in the last two months.

For the in-state donors, we can find several familiar names like Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys LLC with $75k, Paul Rainwater (Chief of Staff to former Governor Bobby Jindal) with $50k, and even a $7,500 donation from Ochsner’s CEO Peter November.

However, the largest donor by far to The Accountability Project is a PAC called Hope in Action. The Hope in Action PAC donated over $3 MILLION to The Accountability Project between April and June 2026.

The Hope in Action PAC’s very own FEC filing reveals a stunning truth about group. Hope in Action is directly connected to the Letlow Victory Fund—which is Julia Letlow’s joint fundraising committee for the US Senate race.

 

What’s more, the Hope in Action PAC has only spent money on three categories in the past several months—legal fees, compliance accounting, and donations to The Accountability Project. The Hope in Action PAC has provided over $2 MILLION in contributions to The Accountability Project in 2026.

According to this same FEC filing, the Hope in Action PAC’s legal fees were paid to a legal firm named Bivalacqua, Gelé + Ellis. One of the partners at this legal firm is Stephen Gelé—who is also Governor Landry’s private attorney.

However, the concerning connections to Governor Jeff Landry do not stop with Stephen Gelé. Let’s now look at one of the major players behind The Accountability Project.

Key Figures Behind the Groups

For those who don’t know, Jason Hebert is a Baton  Rouge political consultant who served as the chairman of the Landry for Louisiana Super PAC during Jeff Landry’s 2023 gubernational campaign. He also serves as political strategist to Congressman Steve Scalise and US House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Just as a reminder, multiple articles from The Times Picayune have confirmed that Jason Hebert is the senior strategist behind The Accountability Project. However, Hebert has refused to conduct interviews about his association with the opaque Super PAC:

“The senior strategist for The Accountability Project is veteran Republican political operative Jason Hebert. He has worked for groups that have pushed Landry’s election and political agenda.

He did not respond to a request for an interview.”

As a summary so far, the Hope in Action PAC is directly associated with the Letlow Victory Fund  joint fundraising committee. The Hope in Action PAC has contributed over $3 MILLION dollars to The Accountability Project Super PAC between April and June 2026.

Now, where is The Accountability Project spending its donations? Over the past few months, The Accountability Project has paid People Who Think LLC over $8 MILLION for “media advertising”, “media production”, and “polling and research”.

The FEC website lists the millions of dollars that that The Accountability Project has paid People Who Think LLC to support Julia Letlow between March and June 2026.

Well, guess who runs People Who Think LLC? The answer: Jeff Landry’s political consultant and policy advisor Jay Connaughton. Jay Connaughton is the founder and managing partner of the People Who Think LLC. 

For those who are unaware, People Who Think LLC has been mired in controversy over the past year. Connaughton’s firm has received tens of millions of dollars from the federal government for providing advertising services to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in FY 2025.

Connaughton’s firm received this hefty contract from the federal government after the Trump administration allegedly bypassed the typical competitive bidding process for DHS’s $200 million television ad campaign last year by declaring a national emergency regarding our country’s southern border with Mexico.

Not to mention, Connaughton previously worked with Corey Lewandowski during Jeff Landry’s Gubernatorial campaign in 2023. Lewandowski later became a DHS official under the Trump administration in 2025.

Earlier this year, US Senator Peter Welch requested documentation and responses from Jay Connaughton concerning his company’s lucrative no-bid contract with DHS.

Putting the Pieces Together

Getting back to Louisiana politics, we now can have a clear view of what The Accountability Project Super PAC and the Jeff Landry-aligned forces behind this group.

According to FEC filings, the Hope in Action PAC (part of Letlow’s joint fundraising committee) is directing millions of dollars into The Accountability Project. In turn, this Super PAC is paying a political advertising firm agency People Who Think LLC—run by one of Governor Jeff Landry’s top political consultants—to produce advertising against John Fleming for the US Senate race.

Even more disturbing, Governor Landry has directly raised money for Super PACs like The Accountability Project and MAGA Energy Project. These groups have produced numerous media advertisements attacking John Fleming while simultaneously omitting their associations to Governor Landry in their ads.

These arrangements are legal under current campaign finance rules. However, this opaque setup directs millions of dollars through multiple layers before reaching the companies creating the attack ads in the US Senate race. When large sums of money move through PACs and Super PACs with close ties to the Governor and his associates, it naturally raises questions about transparency and erodes voters’ trust in our elections.

In my view, Louisiana voters have good reason to question whether coordinated spending from political insiders and special interests are unfairly influencing the outcome of our state’s U.S. Senate runoff. Louisiana voters deserve to know how Governor Landry and his allies are influencing their choice in the US Senate election.

 

*This article is an opinion piece based on publicly available FEC filings and news reports. Readers should review the primary sources themselves.

 

Nathan Koenig is a frequent contributor to RVIVR.com, a national conservative political site affiliated with The Hayride. Follow his writing on the Louisiana First Standard Substack, on Twitter (X) @LAFirstStandard, on Tik Tok @la.first.standard & on Instagram @lafirststandard. Email him here: louisianafirststandard@proton.me