Letten admits former top prosecutor posted online as 'eweman ...

Settling a question he has refused to answer publicly, U.S. Attorney Jim Letten has admitted in a court filing that his former second-in-command, Jan Mann, wrote caustic online commentary under the pen name "eweman." Letten's reign as the nation's longest-serving United States Attorney appears in peril over an online posting?scandal that has dragged on for much of the year.

He had earlier admitted that Mann posted online commentary at NOLA.com, but did not say which alias she used. But in a two-page letter to U.S. District Judge Hayden Head dated Nov. 20, Letten admits that Mann is "eweman."

Head has presided over the case against former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard and others in the parish corruption scandal.

In June, before Broussard pleaded guilty,?Head ordered Letten's office to submit details into its investigation of online postings on NOLA.com, under pseudonyms revealed to be those of federal prosecutor Sal Perricone, who resigned over the flap.

The response to the judge's order came from Mann. Afterward, Head denied a motion to recuse Letten's office in the case, relying on Mann's account.

In his letter to the judge, arguing against any change in Head's ruling, Letten noted one alleged passage in which "eweman" answered online criticism on NOLA.com that federal prosecutors were going too light on Broussard and others in the case.

"Haven't you been paying attention?" wrote "eweman" a year ago. "You take the king down for anything you got him on. Al Capone went to jail for taxes, remember?"

Letten then goes on to say: "AUSA Mann posted on nola.com under the name 'eweman.'" As a result, Letten wrote, Mann was immediately demoted.

Letten's letter is dated a day after he announced he had demoted Mann.

A week earlier, River Birch landfill magnate Fred Heebe -- himself a former hopeful for the top federal prosecutor job in New Orleans -- filed a defamation lawsuit claiming Mann was "eweman."

Before then, Letten had repeatedly stated that neither he nor Mann knew anything about Perricone's online ramblings.

Last week, a different federal judge, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt, scoffed at that idea and suggested that?both Mann and Perricone could be subject to criminal prosecution for their rantings.

Engelhardt had conducted his own probe of misconduct in Letten's office, which included testimony last month from a former federal prosecutor, Mike Magner, claiming he told top brass in Letten's office that he suspected Perricone was?spraying vitriol on NOLA.com.

The idea that others, including Mann, either participated in or knew about the online razzing, and apparently said nothing, has wobbled Letten's?reputation and shaken the confidence of some of his biggest supporters.

Letten has declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility.

Engelhardt last week suggested that the internal investigation was folly and "strongly" urged Letten to appoint a special counsel to investigate. In an editorial on Sunday, the New York Times editorial board?backed that idea.

Source: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/12/letten_admits_former_top_prose.html

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