[StBernard] Jindal Faces Heat From Ethics Board

[Westley Annis]

Jindal Faces Heat From Ethics Board
TheNewOrleansChannel.com
updated 11:11 p.m. CT, Thurs., Jan. 24, 2008
BATON ROUGE, La. - Gov. Billy Jindal's camp said a complaint that was filed
months ago is garnering a lot of attention now, but they do not understand
why. The Louisiana Board of Ethics said it is looking into accusations that
Jindal failed to disclose more than $100,000 in campaign aid from the state
Republican party. 

"We can build a Louisiana where leaders set the highest standards and hold
every member of government accountable," Jindal said in his inaugural
speech. 

In his speech, Jindal promised a crackdown on ethics reform, and political
pundits said the timing of this investigation is not good. 

"It's a little bit uncomfortable because he's getting ready to go into an
ethics special session. He's going to have to address it quickly and try to
get it behind him," strategist Jack Capella said. 

Melissa Sellers, Jindal's press secretary, is already working on damage
control for Jindal. Sellers said, by phone from Washington, D.C., that the
original complaint was made in September, and she claimed the complaint was
purely a partisan political stunt. 

She also said that Jindal's camp immediately filed an amendment to their
expense report after the complaint was filed to detail the "in kind"
contribution. 

"Anytime we make a mistake, we will admit it and correct it immediately,"
Sellers said. Jindal's campaign accountant said a mistake was made, but the
Republican party chairman called the ordeal as a misinterpretation of
accounting rules. 

"They have to have an investigation.. So somebody is going to look at all of
these allegations, make a report back to the board and the board is going to
make a determination," Capella said. 

If Jindal's actions are found to be in violation, Jindal could face fines up
to $2,500. 

"We are going to pay the fine quickly and continue to operate with full
transparency," Sellers