This is an actual statement from state Treasurer John Kennedy’s campaign on Rep. Charles Boustany, a fellow Republican and one of Kennedy’s rivals in the November jungle primary for Louisiana’s open Senate seat:
I want to be very clear that my campaign played absolutely no role in creating this story alleging Congressman Boustany's sexual relationships with prostitutes that were later murdered, his staff's alleged involvement in running the bar and hotel where this illicit behavior took place, or publishing the book.
Um … wow.
The story that Kennedy is referring to, and also helping spread, of course—Kennedy blasted this very statement on his Facebook page—can be found in a just-released book by investigative journalist Ethan Brown. Brown, who is best known for his previous volume about a grisly murder-suicide that took place in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, has now written about the murders of eight prostitutes between 2005 and 2009 in a book called Murder in the Bayou. These women were all killed in Jefferson Davis Parish, which is in the southwestern corner of Louisiana, and have come to be collectively known as the “Jeff Davis 8.”
So how does this relate to the Senate race?
According to three anonymous sources that Brown cites in his book, Boustany, whose House district includes Jefferson Davis Parish, was a client of some of the victims. Brown also says that a Boustany aide named Martin Guillory (who goes by the nickname “Big G”) operated a motel where prostitution took place, though Guillory claims he had no knowledge of any illegal activity taking place on his watch. That seems to be as far as it goes, though, as Brown assures his readers that there’s “no evidence that either Congressman Boustany or Big G had any involvement with the murders of the Jeff Davis 8.”
Naturally, Boustany’s campaign responded by rejecting Brown’s allegations, calling them “completely false.” It also denied any knowledge of Guillory’s connection to the Jeff Davis 8 and says he’s no longer working for the congressman as of last week. Brown says he stands by his reporting, though until now, none of Boustany’s opponents have sought to make an issue of these allegations. But with the publication of Murder in the Bayou Tuesday, the story is getting wide circulation, and Kennedy, at least, is sensing an opportunity in promoting the charges while pretending to distance himself from them, elevating the rhetorical trick of apophasis into high art.
This is a very strange situation, and it’s impossible to know how voters will react, especially if no new evidence emerges. But it’s lost on no one that the man Boustany, Kennedy, and many others are hoping to succeed, Sen. David Vitter, saw his gubernatorial bid last year completely wrecked by his own prostitution scandal. What’s unexpected, though, is that Kennedy’s the one getting out in front on this, seeing as he’s led in all public polling to date. That suggests he might not be quite so certain of his standing and would like to eliminate one of his rivals to shore up his own chances. It’s also possible that Boustany is the candidate that Kennedy would least like to face in a December runoff, so he’s hoping to knock him out of contention now.
Besides Kennedy and Boustany, the other main Republican is Rep. John Fleming, a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus. (Former KKK leader David Duke has gotten a lot of media attention but fortunately has little support, and some other minor Republicans have barely registered.) On the Democratic side, the key contenders are Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, who is backed by Gov. John Bel Edwards, and attorney Caroline Fayard, who recently earned an endorsement from New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
All the candidates will compete on one November ballot and, in the very likely event that no one takes a majority, the top two vote-getters will advance to a December runoff. Kennedy probably figures that his chances of making it to the Senate are better if Boustany collapses. But it’s one thing to post on Facebook; it’s quite another to run the kind of TV ads Edwards used to torpedo Vitter. And unless we learn more here, the story could completely fizzle. Stay tuned.