CenLamar

Late last week, Ravi Sangisetty, a candidate for Congress in Louisiana’s Third District, went on the offense against his Republican challenger Jeff Landry, a Tea Party favorite who emerged as the Republican nominee after a bruising primary against Hunt Downer, a retired National Guard Major General and former Speaker of the Louisiana House. Sangisetty’s campaign launched DirtyLandry.com, which features, among other things, a stunning allegation that when Landry was a Sheriff Deputy in 1993, police recovered $10,000 worth of cocaine underneath his home and then arrested his roommate, also a Deputy, for possession with intent to distribute. Only a few months later, Sangisetty’s campaign claims, Jeff Landry turned in his badge.

This is a little bit more than a “guilt by association” attack. Early this week, Sangisetty’s campaign put out a press release focusing on this allegation (bold mine):

Sangisetty for Congress Campaign Manager Julienne Uhlich said corruption follows Jeff Landry. She said Landry ran a disgraceful campaign against a good man like Hunt Downer, and Landry now has questions to answer about his involvement in a cocaine bust.

“Here’s what we know: While Jeff Landry was employed as a sheriff’s deputy,  $10,000 worth of cocaine was stolen from the sheriff’s evidence room and found under his house. His roommate, also a sheriff’s deputy, was arrested for it and went to jail. Landry turned in his badge within months,” Uhlich (Sangisetty’s campaign manager) said. “There are only two explanations. Either Jeff Landry was a dirty cop and knew about the drugs, or he was the worst cop ever and couldn’t figure out that $10,000 worth of cocaine was being sold out of his house.”

Those are fighting words, and they probably merit a response from Mr. Landry. Was cocaine being sold out of his home? Who alerted the authorities? Was Mr. Landry surprised to learn that $10,000 worth of cocaine was stashed underneath his home? The answers to these questions are particularly important because Mr. Landry was, at the time, a law enforcement officer. It speaks to both his integrity and his competence. And if Mr. Landry has a legitimate response, then voters need to hear it.

Sangisetty also put out this web ad (H/t to The Daily Kingfish):