Enough time has elapsed for me to comment on the Edwin Edwards “authorized” biography written by my friend, Leo Honeycutt. First, I’m jealous. He has sold a helluva lot more books than me, although my memoir is funnier. But lets face it, Edwin Edwards is notorious. And most people don’t know who the hell I am. But if anyone needs a speaker, I will be glad to tell them detail. B.S. is my specialty. Enough hustling of my book. The subject is Leo’s book. I will leave the reviews to book reviewers. However, I’m disappointed that Leo didn’t contact me about a couple of Edwards cheap shots at my reporting, or at least taken the time to read chapters in my book dealing with the former Governor.

Louisiana’s most famous scoundrel has a distorted sense of reality when it comes to ethics and/or borderline criminal activities. He certainly has a perverted perspective on his actions during the second of four terms in office. In Leo’s biography, Edwards accused me of a smear campaign in connection with a 30-minute documentary in which I linked him to DCCL–a company that had exclusive rights to sell supplementary retirement insurance to state employees. As governor, he invested in the formation of DCCL and then rigged the bid for the company to steal the state contract from a national company. Edwards office also sent out memoranda directing state agencies to make time available during work hours for DCCL to pitch its product to employees. After Edwards left office, the Republican administration of Dave Treen raised questions about the viability of the insurance plan. The queries caused DCCL’s President to skip town. Although subject of an FBI search, he was not located until a year later when his family received word that he died of cancer in a VA hospital in Philadelphia. Armed with documents and interviews, I disclosed the Edwards’ scheme in an investigative documentary. He claims DCCL’s deceased president, had he lived, would have exonerated him of wrongdoing. That’s very unlikely. I have inside information about the guy’s state of mind. I’m married to his former wife. She divorced him nine months after he disappeared. Her recollection is that he was under tremendous pressure to make payments to Edwards and another secret partner in the company. A federal grand jury issued a scathing report about Edwards’ ties to DCCL, but did not return an indictment. The former governor no doubt benefited from the death of a key witness. My documentary was anything but a smear.

To be continued…..