DHECC - would the real Pat Juneau please stand up?

Yesterday, BP filed an appeal in the 5th Circuit in respect to their original motion to remove Patrick Juneau as Claims Adminstrator of the Deepwater Horizon Economic Claims Center.  The motion was denied by Judge Carl Barbier.

The appeal cites Juneau's conflict of interests which he failed to disclose upon being interviewed for the claims administrator position.  It also singles out his involvement in the Omega Protein claim where he lobbied Kenneth Feinberg, former head of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, to pay out a $45 million dollar claim (the largest payout in the history of the settlement to date) to a Houston-based company, Omega Protein.

Juneau also billed the state of Louisiana for the time he spent lobbying for this non-Louisiana based corporation...which should constitute payroll fraud to the state of Louisiana.

The appeal offers a few more details on the Omega claim than we (AZ readers and the public) were previously aware of such as the fourth item on page 38:

"Appellees downplay Mr. Juneau's advocacy for an individual claimant by asserting that Mr. Juneau was "merely inquiring" about the claim (Omega Protein).  Class-Br. 35; Juneau Br. 52-53.  The evidence refutes that characterization.  Mr. Juneau pressed Mr. Feinberg to contact the claimant's president, and peppered Mr. Feinberg with urgent emails until Mr. Feinberg finally informed him the claim had been paid.  At a minimum, discovery would be warranted into the nature of Mr. Juneau's intervention with this, and potentially other, claims."

This has echoes of the Corps Constructors claim.  In Juneau's response to the motion to remove him, he addressed the Corps Constructors issue on page 31 as follows:

"Also, despite characterizing Mr. Sutton's credibility as "certainly questionable", BP relies on his statements in the ""American Zombie" interview to allege that Mr. Juneau wrongfully expedited the claims of a friend's son.  The CSSP and Mr Juneau receive numerous calls from claimants who feel their claims are taking longer than they expected.  The program always has tried to respond to these inquiries, but not with the object of improperly expediting a claim."

Sounds nice but HE DID EXPEDITE THIS CLAIM.  It's not simply an issue of taking phone calls from claimants about the status of their claims or inquiring to Brown and Greer about the current status of a claim (as he stated he was doing with Omega and Feinberg).....he actually had Lionel Sutton tell Brown and Greer to expedite this claim.  There's a world of difference between checking on a claim and moving it out of its place in a queue.

DHECC - Lionel Sutton Interview Series - Corps Constructors 1 from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Juneau's explanation regarding Corps Constructors is as opaque as his explanation regarding Omega appears to be.

There are so many non-answers in Juneau's response, it's laughable.  Particularly his Corps Constructors excuse but also his excuse for lying under oath to Special Master Louis Freeh regarding his previous involvement with the settlement process.  This recent appeal calls that perjury issue out as well.  

On page 5 of Juneau's response he also claims in his position as the special master/claims administrator that he is not a "justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States".  He stated to BP and the Court, that he had no judicial power or authority.  This recent appeal counters that assertion on many different levels but I want to point out something the appeal fails to mention.

In Christine Reitano's breech of contract suit against the DHECC for her termination, Pat Juneau claimed quasi-judicial immunity in Judge Barbier's court which places him squarely in the role as a court official.   Item number 9, page 3:

9. As Claims Administrator of the Court Supervised Settlement Program, Mr. Juneau enjoys quasi-judicial immunity for his actions taken as Claims Administrator, and he intends to raise the federal defense.  See Young v. Selsky, 41 F.3d 47, 51 (2d Cir. 1994) (quasi-judicial immunity has been extended to individuals who perform duties "closely associated with the judicial process" and who "perform tasks that are inextricably intertwined with the judicial process.")

This argument was made in Reitano's case as both a reason to move the case from state to federal court (Barbier's court where the case was stayed and put in a black hole) and also to provide immunity for Juneau from being deposed.  But with BP, Juneau is now arguing he has no judicial title or powers and can't be held to that standard.

Judge Barbier, himself, even told Lionel Sutton in open court that lying to Juneau was the same as lying to the Court.  Here are Barbier's exact words from the last hearing:

"'A lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact to a law or tribunal.'  Well, Mr. Juneau may not be technically a tribunal, but he is a Court-appointed claims administrator.  And as far as I"m concerned, if a lawyer, particularly a lawyer who is working for him, makes a false statement to my Court-appointed claims administrator, as Mr. Sutton has admitted he made on several occasions, that's the same as making a false statement to the Court."

This is a clear violation of the rules of professional conduct to argue opposite positions in the same case under the same set of facts...otherwise known as a positional conflict.  Both Barbier and Juneau appear to have done exactly this, or at least Juneau argued and Barbier accepted the argument.

I wonder where they went to law school.

I suppose you can put your judge hat on when it's convenient then take it off when it's not?  Like over appz and entrees?

DHECC - The Mamas, The Papas, and the orphaned children of the Gulf Coast

- "And no one's getting fat except Mama Cass..."

...and Juneau, the PSC, Louis Freeh, the court vendors....just not the people actually affected by the oil spill.

Tuesday, Kyle Barnett of the Louisiana Record published this nuclear bombshell:

McGladrey whistleblower claims Deepwater Horizon audit deeply flawed

Although it's been met with little fanfare in the mainstream media cycle, if this whistleblower's story is true it has the elements of an Arthur Andersen/Enron debacle.

Disclosure:  I was aware of the whistleblower's claims (as were other reporters who have followed this story) before Barnett published his post.  I have seen the whistleblower's original allegations and I can tell you they go much deeper than what Barnett was able to publish.  There are some highly salacious elements to the story that could possibly implicate a collusion between court vendor PwC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers) and McGladrey in how the audit was carried out....if you could even call it an audit....but I can't comment on all of it at the moment.

As Barnett pointed out, BP filed with Barbier's court to obtain the initial versions of the audit and was denied.  No surprise there, Barbier's only goal is to run interference for Juneau, the PSC, the Freeh Group and the chosen court vendors who are racking up millions while the people who have suffered the most along the Gulf have been orphaned in the wake of Act 495.

Barnett also notes the whistleblower's report calls out McGladrey team leader for the DHECC audit, Mark McNamee, for essentially running up the bill without a real game plan in place to accurately assess the success or failure of the settlement.  The whistleblower claims McNamee told the auditing team, "The client is willing to pay whatever costs that we incur during this engagement as long as we can get the job done."  McNamee also allegedly encouraged the McGladrey team members to stay in New Orleans on the weekends and yuck it up on the company expense account while filing billable hours to the DHECC.

There is second player mentioned in the whistleblower's complaint that was not mentioned in the Louisiana Record story, McGladrey Risk Advisor Service Manager, Jessica Batt.  Batt served as an executive member on the BP audit team and worked very closely with McNamee according to the information laid out in the ethics complaint.

Someone in the comment section of the LR story is obviously aware of the content in the whistleblower's complaint referencing Jessica Batt's complicity in helping McNamee run up the bill without having any real direction on the audit itself. While I can't go too deep into all of the allegations, I will mention a quote attributed to Batt by the whistleblower, "We don't want to have anything in writing that PwC (secondary auditors) could hold us to."

That quote is pregnant because according to the ethics complaint Jessica Batt may have had some inside knowledge as to exactly what issues PwC would have held McGladrey to due to the fact that she was married to a manager at PwC, Scott Batt (at the time of the audit that is).  The whistleblower points out that McGladrey's Code of Ethics prohibits their employees from "working on any audit where immediate family members are either employed by or have significant interest (investments, loans, etc.) of the entity that is being audited."  PwC would certainly have been a company examined in the audit being a court vendor for the settlement and the primary accounting firm processing claims in the DHECC.

The whistleblower also notes in the ethics complaint that he seriously doubts BP told McNamee to run up whatever costs were needed to "get the job done".

But what I think "Toots McGladrey" may be missing is that it most likely wasn't BP who stroked the blank check, it was more likely the actual client, Claims Administrator Pat Juneau.  When the initial drafts of the audit came in and suggested that upwards of 50% of the claims examined did not have proper documentation and could be considered "fraudulent" I suspect Juneau then made the offer to McNamee to run the bill up through the goddamn roof...13x the original estimate (see Louis Freeh)...  as long as the audit turned out benign.

It's no wonder Judge Barbier is blocking BP's attempt to see all the audit materials.  If the judge knew Juneau approved of the excessive billing, it could hang not only Juneau but Barbier himself and it's hard to imagine he wasn't aware of the progress of the audit and ballooning costs.

What's painfully apparent is that this settlement has been fucksnu'd to the point where the administrative costs by the court vendors have expanded into a completely alternate galaxy while the existing one the settlement was created for (to compensate the people of the Gulf Coast for the damages from the oil spill) is collapsing in on itself.  Act 495 and the energy and resources sucked out by the black hole (The Freeh Group and court vendors like McGladrey) have cannibalized the DHECC.

If these whistleblowers's allegations prove true, Pat Juneau should resign immediately.  McNamee should be deposed to find out exactly what Juneau told him regarding the audit and McGladrey's expenses.  Don't hold your breath on Freeh actually doing his job there but even an outside entity, preferably the FBI, should investigate the matter as it clearly suggests payroll fraud.  I suppose they'll get to that as soon as they finish with Double Bill Cassidy....not. 

Just to pour salt in the wound, I'll leave you with this recent comment by AZ reader and contributor In-Hale:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "DHECC - from Omega to the Alpha with love": 

After posting the $ 795 MILLION DOLLARS IN CLAIM OFFERS THAT VAPORIZED on Nov 22, 2014 little has changed. These were offers accepted but BP appealed and lost them they were just waiting on the processed payment. 

The Appeals Coordinator sent them back to the accountants for new calculations under Policy 495 and what does BP do?

Appeals the new offers!!!!

Today's stats 1/14/15 chart 7 demonstrates little to know appeals resolved with a spike in appeals filed.

Table 5 now has the gap between Accepted offers vs. Pay offers growing again to just under 400 million.

We now have another 158 Businesses receiving Exclusion Denials along with their employees and another 900 Businesses receiving Incomplete Denials.

I guess it’s now safe to say that the only thing this settlement resolved was BP liability. Based on the definition to even refer to calling this a settlement would be FRAUD.

Time to replace the PSC or expand it with qualified litigators. My research on the PSC shows little to no experienced members were included just a group of Monty Hall’s from Let’s Make A Deal that took door number 1 worth $600 million.

IN-HALE 

DHECC - from Omega to the Alpha with love

An interesting item about the Omega claim story has popped up after a public records request to the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) office.

On September 2, 2010, Chairman, CEO and President of Omega Protein, Joe von Rosenberg, sent an email and enclosed memo to the Secretary of the LED, Stephen Moret.  In it he mentions that he will be in Baton Rouge the coming Tuesday evening to attend an event for Governor Bobby Jindal.

As fate would have it, Omega made a $5000 donation to the Republican Party of Louisiana the day after that Jindal soiree on September 7th, 2010.  DHECC Claims Administrator Pat Juneau was cc'd in subsequent emails from the LED and shortly after that the Omega Claim was paid out.

It appears LED is who asked Juneau to contact Feinberg about the Omega claim and I suppose the $5000 donation to Jindal was a small pittance to get a $45 million payday.

It's an interesting snapshot of how the machine works.

DHECC - $14,000,000 doesn't get you much these days

Mr. Anonymous is keeping me busy with document dumps from the DHECC.  I don't know where they're coming from but keep 'em coming.

Today I got this letter, or partial letter, written by an unidentified BP representative to Claims Administrator, Pat Juneau.

  Mc Glad Ley Letter 1 by Jason Brad Berry

Aside from railing on Juneau for his failure to be transparent, the letter points out that he had originally contracted the McGladrey firm at an estimated cost of 1.2 to 1.6 million.  Over the course of a year that cost ballooned to a whopping 14 million + smackeroos.

Looks like everyone is making a ton of money on this settlement with the exception of the actual claimants, many of whom are still suffering from the effects of this spill.

The McGladrey firm was apparently contracted to conduct an internal audit of the settlement program.  Funny thing is it looks like there is nothing to show for it...at least not to BP.

I was told about a month ago by a source a "scathing audit" had been conducted, mostly surrounding the seafood claims, which Pat Juneau redlined the moment it was delivered.  He then went on to apparently shitcan the whole thing before it could see the light of day.  I assume this is that audit.

If that's the case I can understand the ire of the author of this letter....14 million and nothing to show for it.

Once again we're in a grey zone here regarding the transparency issue.  If the DHECC was a public body then I could file a FOIA for that audit but I know I will simply get denied if I do as the DHECC body does not consider itself a public entity.  However, as the above letter points out (ad nauseam) Juneau has repeatedly touted his intent to make the settlement process transparent.  I think the public deserves to see this audit.  Judge Barbier, himself, has even stated the settlement will be transparent.  One would think he would order this audit to be made public....if he is aware of it (and we know he is now).

I'm not gonna hold my breath either one of those guys are going to live up to their promises but if there is anyone out there that can get their hands on this thing, please send it to me even if it's COD.  I will ask for donations to cover the cost.  

Actually...I'm gonna ask for donations anyway since I haven't in a while :).  If you appreciate the work I do here on AZ you can send a few bucks...or 14 million.....my way via the PayPal button on the right >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. 

DHECC - Juneau's LOSCO billing

..work in progress.  this is all i can provide at the moment.

Here.....this is a Public Records Request for Pat Juneau's billing record to LOSCO.

Numero Uno

Numero Dos

Numero Tres

"Now, I knew, from reading the newspaper -- I didn't have any involvement in anything in the spill.  I didn't represent any claimants in the spill, wasn't representing any defendants in the spill, had really no connection with the spill per se."  - Pat Juneau, under oath to Special Master Louis Freeh


American Zombie: DHECC - Juneau perjured himself

DHECC - An ex parte "partey"

Isn't this quaint?  Right after a hearing Judge Carl Barbier held yesterday about Act 495, he and Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan decided to wind down at Annunciation restaurant in New Orleans' Warehouse District with none other than DHECC Claims Administrator Pat Juneau.



Yeah...you know Pat...the guy BP is asking to have removed from the settlement...the guy that perjured himself in a deposition taken under Barbier's court...the guy who allowed PSC members to expedite their own claims ahead of everyone else in the settlement.

I wonder who footed the bill on this one; I seriously doubt they went dutch.

Better yet, I wonder if it was expensed to the Claims Office.  Must be nice to be so cozy with the judge who's responsible for deciding your fate.  Fortuna has certainly shone her light upon Mr. Juneau.

Who knows?  Maybe they were just discussing the Saints' problems with the pass rush....or Mary Landrieu's keg stander...or whatever Emeril was bitching at Obama about...or where you can get cheap Viagra online.

I'm certainly unsure they never once discussed the settlement.

Hey, what was that whole fuss Freeh brought up about "unclean hands" and the mere appearance of impropriety?

Ah never mind.....I hear the fried oysters are to die for at Annunciation.  The BBQ shrimp will certainly leave one with unclean hands.  

DHECC - Juneau perjured himself

E 10 with exhibits

This exhibit in BP's motion to remove Juneau as Claims Administrator of the Deepwater Horizon Economic Claims Center clearly shows that Juneau was representing the state against BP when he accepted his position.  He should have at least disclosed the potential conflict but not only did he hide it, he lied about it.

I went back and looked at Juneau's interview with Special Master Louis Freeh to see if Freeh asked Juneau if he had represented anyone in the BP litigation prior to accepting the position as Claims Administrator.  This interview was conducted under oath:

Start at line 7 on this page

"Now, I knew, from reading the newspaper -- I didn't have any involvement in anything in the spill.  I didn't represent any claimants in the spill, wasn't representing any defendants in the spill, had really no connection with the spill per se."

That's a bald-faced lie...we now know from the exhibit posted above.  It's also perjury because he was under oath in this interview.  And I'd like to see him play the "foggy memory card" because he prefaced the whole statement with "I vividly remember...".

BP lawyer Mark Holstein even says in the exhibit had he known of the conflict previously he would have brought it to the attention of Special Master Louis Freeh.  Well Freeh didn't even have to ask him, Juneau willingly denied having any "involvement with the spill" or having represented any claimants in the spill.

The reason this is a big deal is because Louis Freeh accused both Lionel Sutton and Christine Reitano of committing perjury when he interviewed them and suggested they be prosecuted for it, even though I don't think they did perjure themselves.  Here, Juneau clearly did so.

Louis Freeh is currently incapacitated due to injuries he suffered in a very serious automobile accident in Vermont.  Regardless of my opinion of his performance with the DHECC, I wish him a speedy recovery.

But someone within the Freeh Group should now make a statement regarding this matter of Juneau perjuring himself, no?  If this was such a serious matter regarding employees under the Claims Administrator it should be much more serious coming from the CA himself.  

DHECC - Lionel Sutton interview part 4 - hiding behind the robe

In this final segment of the Lionel Sutton interview, we will focus on the influence of the PSC on the Claims Office, why Judge Barbier seems intent on quashing any attempt by those accused by Louis Freeh the opportunity to defend themselves, and why both Freeh and Barbier may be protecting the PSC firm that filed the fraudulent seafood claims.

This first byte is about the influence the PSC had at the Claims Office while Sutton was there. Lionel notes that he was not involved in any policy creation and he also expounds on why the claims expedited by the PSC are such a big issue now:

Lionel Sutton - 18 - PSC Influence and policy.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Here is a very specific example of a PSC attorney using their position and influence to benefit their own personal claims:

Lionel Sutton - 17 - Joe Rice access from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Interesting that Rice would say, "I'm putting on my private attorney hat now, not my PSC hat."  The point is that the only reason he had access to the Claims Office employees and even a top level Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) accountant is because he was a PSC member.  Juneau would not have sent the three of them to just any plaintiff attorney's office to discuss and even negotiate the nature of how their claims were going to be processed.

These next two bytes, Sutton discusses how he, Reitano and Andry Lerner have been denied any reasonable level of due process in order to defend themselves against Freeh's charges:

Lionel Sutton - 13 - Not allowed due process.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Here, Lionel elaborates a little further on why Barbier is so determined to bury the issue and deny them discovery:

Lionel Sutton - 12 - Why Barbier is ignoring and blocking.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

How could both the Judge and Freeh simply ignore the issues that have been brought up already on this blog and by Lionel Sutton?  Let's run down the biggest:

• Patrick Juneau expedited a claim for a friend. 

• The PSC expedited, at minimum, 409 claims, many of them their own.  One PSC member, Calvin Fayard, may have expedited his cousin and business partner's claim.

•  A PSC firm filed fraudulent seafood claims.

•  Members of the Appeals Panel, themselves, had claims with the DHECC.

• Some PSC members had direct access and influence to accountants that were processing their personal claims.

How can Louis Freeh, and the Judge for that matter, not address any of these issues?

Louis Freeh is addressing other issues, though.  He is still going after Andry Lerner claims.  It appears Freeh has a vendetta against these guys as well as Christine Mancuso who contradicted his "interpretation" of her investigation interview regarding Reitano's alleged attempt to negotiate the Thonn claim.

In fact, I'm beginning to question the impetus for bringing Freeh on board to begin with as well as his laser-like focus on the Andry Lerner firm.  Does Andry Lerner have any enemies in positions of power on this settlement?  Who introduced Freeh into the fray to begin with?

Lionel stated that if he and Reitano were allowed to conduct discovery, they would uncover much worse issues with Pat Juneau and the PSC than anything of which Freeh has accused them.  It would appear Judge Barbier is doing his best to make sure those issues don't surface.

Is that justice?  Or is it the same old song and dance this state is famous for?  We know our politicians are corrupt but when our judiciary falls into step with them, who do you turn to?

DHECC - Lionel Sutton Interview Part 3 - recipe for a zombie

In the third installment of the Lionel Sutton interview series, I’m going to focus on the investigation conducted by Special Master Louis Freeh which led to Sutton, his wife Christine Reitano, and the Andry Lerner Law Firm being accused of various criminal activity.   Specifically, we will examine how, in Reitano’s case, these allegations led to termination from the Claims Office.

Fraud    ...       

Before we get into the nuances of the "Freeh Style" investigation techniques, I want to show you a particular sound byte regarding fraudulent seafood claims.

Folks have criticized me for “burying the lead” in past posts, and I think they have a damn good point so let’s kick this post off with a bang:

Lionel Sutton - 15 - Page 60 - 2.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

A disclaimer:  Lionel qualified this statement by saying he was not absolutely sure that this particular instance of fraud is what Louis Freeh was referring to on page 60 of his first report.  The only person who knows that, for sure, is Louis Freeh.  Unfortunately, it appears Freeh lost the scent and we may never know what firm he was talking about.  

Good news is it doesn’t matter.  Fraud has been alleged....now we all know.

Let me restate this revelation ….A plaintiff steering committee firm filed FRAUDULENT seafood claims....multiple.  After it was discovered by employees in the Claims Office it was brought to the attention of the Claims Administrator, Pat Juneau. 

According to Sutton, Pat simply told the firm not to do it again...a mere slap on the hand.  

This epiphany begs the question, "Were the fraudulent claims paid out even after it was brought to the attention of the Claims Administrator?" 

Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing that unless Juneau addresses the matter, publicly.  

Chew on this whole thing for a second....then let's take a look at the issues Freeh's first report addressed.

Lying liars who lie?

I think it's preposterous to assume Louis Freeh isn't aware of this PSC firm's fraudulent seafood claims.  And I can’t imagine Judge Barbier doesn’t know about it considering Sutton wrote it down in a memo of opposition his attorney filed with the Court. 

Understand this.....these falsified claims by the PSC firm are ILLEGAL.  

Please consider the gravitas here….a PSC firm used their knowledge of the claims process to manipulate and file false seafood claims.  This wasn't a simple scam to milk BP, it is detrimental to the other class seafood claimants.

Lionel explains why in this byte:  

Lionel Sutton - 14 - Page 60 - 1.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

If this allegation is true.....Juneau is absolutely complicit in a cover up.  Freeh is complicit if he doesn’t act against the firm.  Judge Barbier is complicit if he doesn’t demand that Louis Freeh make the allegations public and suggest criminal charges be brought against the firm in the same way Freeh did to Sutton and Reitano.

A disclaimer...

I know who the alleged firm is…at least the one Sutton is referring to in these sound bytes.  But that doesn't mean it's the same firm Freeh was referring to on page 60. 

I also know how the seafood claims were manipulated, in fact I expounded on it in this post.

I plan on revealing who this PSC firm is soon but I want to validate the story through one more source (the 4th) and I want to give the firm an opportunity to respond to the allegations.  I also have a standing request to interview Pat Juneau that has yet to be acknowledged.

Justice isn't Freeh

The real question mark that arises from this revelation is why would Freeh be protecting the PSC firm?  Why would Judge Barbier allow it?  Most importantly, was Louis Freeh really brought into the picture to actually conduct an unbiased investigation? 

Finally…has Freeh even come close to conducting an unbiased investigation?

The litmus test for those questions lies with Freeh’s charges against Christine Reitano more so than Lionel Sutton.  Sutton explains the allegations Freeh brought against Reitano in this byte, also, he talks about the evidence Freeh accrued to make the charges:

Lionel Sutton - -8 -Chrisitne and Mancuso.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

To recap here, Freeh claimed Reitano knew her husband,  Lionel Sutton, was getting the referral fee on the Thonn claim and she then lied to his investigators about it under oath.  

Lionel states in this byte that Christine absolutely did not know about the referral fee because he never told her.

I know it's difficult to digest but if there's one thing I've learned from writing this blog, never assume a wife knows what a husband is doing...and vice-versa.  I can quote you  three husband/wife scenarios I've written about on this blog where this fact holds true....Bennett, Ellis, St. Pierre...Meffert.  OK, that's four....number five is forever grateful I stopped at four.  

                                                                               

Freeh also stated that Reitano was using her position at the Claims Office to negotiate a larger referral fee for Sutton with the Andry Lerner firm.  His basis for this statement was a phone conversation Reitano had with Andry Lerner attorney,  Christine Mancuso. 

Reitano vehemently denied this allegation after Freeh released his report.  In fact, even Mancuso denied the allegation Freeh made against Reitano.  

Here Sutton discusses how Freeh obtained the evidence to levy his allegations:

Lionel Sutton - 9 - Freeh no deposition, acct false accusation.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

No actual affidavits or depositions were taken by the Freeh group in their investigation with the exception of Pat Juneau, Lionel Sutton and Christine Reitano.  Instead, the investigators "interpreted" the witnesses’ testimony.  

Now,  two of these witnesses have come forward to contradict the allegations made in the Freeh report.

Purgatory 

What’s more, Judge Barbier has denied the accused parties' request for discovery, including their ability to take their own depositions with the key witnesses:

Lionel Sutton - 11 - Not allowed discovery.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Not only has the Court denied the accused the right to discovery and due process, Barbier had Christine Reitano’s "breach of contract" lawsuit against the Claims Office (and BP) removed from civil court and into his own court.

There, it lies in limbo:

Lionel Sutton - 16 - Reitano issues and MDL.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Why would Barbier deny Reitano her civil rights and bury this case?  I humbly ask, "Does that constitute obstruction of justice?" 

They are being denied the right to face their accuser and question witnesses in order to argue their innocence.  How is that legal?  

A zombie?

In the next segment, I'll address impetus. Most notably why both Freeh and Judge Barbier seem intent on protecting the PSC firm that filed the fraudulent claims .  Also, why the Judge is denying Andry Lerner, Sutton…and most importantly, Reitano…due process.  

--> hounds kuzimu uchaguzi wako

DHECC - Lionel Sutton Interview Part 2 - how the "go-to guy" became the fall guy

In this segment of posts on the Lionel Sutton interview, I want to back up and examine the history of how Sutton and his wife, Christine Reitano, came to work at the Deepwater Horizon Economic Claims Center, what their roles were and I want to let Lionel draw a picture for AZ readers as to the general operations and M.O. at the Claims Office in respect to his own job.

This will be a lengthy post but I think it’s important to lay the foundation for upcoming posts.

Remember, Sutton held no stipulations on what I could ask him.  He was an open book and answered all my questions….on camera….and that shit ain’t easy.   

Freeh, Juneau and some of the PSC members have conducted multiple interviews with MSM entities but none of these journalistic resources have asked questions about the issues I've brought up on AZ.  Claims Administrator, Patrick Juneau, has repeatedly ignored my requests for an interview.  

Doing what this blog (and I suppose any blog worth its salt) does best, I’d like to give the voiceless...the pariah...Lionel Sutton...the stage.  I'd like to allow Mr. Sutton the opportunity to explain his side of the story and his current plight.  You, AZ reader, can draw your own conclusions.

  

One may consider this interview series a biased effort but keep in mind, I have extended multiple invitations to Mr. Juneau for interviews and received no response.  I still extend the invitation to interview anyone involved in this story: Pat Juneau, Louis Freeh, Carl J. Barbier, Sally Shushan, and any PSC firm….in fact I beg them to speak with me on the record.  I've even begged them through FOIA requests. 

How He Got The Job

This first byte is basically background on Lionel Sutton’s relationship with Pat Juneau previous to his employment at the Claims Office and how both he and his wife, Christine Reitano, came to work at the Claims Office:

Lionel Sutton interveiw 1 - How did Lionel and Christine get the job from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

This byte establishes a couple of interesting factoids.  

Reitano was a full-time employee where Sutton was simply a part-time contractor.  This is why she has filed the "breach of contract" lawsuit against the office and Sutton doesn’t have that option.  But Sutton’s situation works both ways, he also never signed the same confidentiality agreements Reitano did to gain employment at the Claims Office….therefore, he can speak freely.

Another really interesting revelation in this byte is the history between Sutton and Juneau…it certainly wasn’t a casual relationship.  According to Lionel, they had known each other for years and even had business relationships previous to Sutton’s tenure at the Claims Office.  

This story doesn’t seem to gel with Pat Juneau’s deposition in Louis Freeh’s investigation:

Freeh (interviewer for Freeh Group):  Are you the individual who hired Mr. Sutton?

Juneau:  I guess you could say -- yeah, I think so.

Freeh (interviewer for Freeh Group): Did anyone recommend that you hire him, if you recall?

Juneau:  No. I don't think -- I mean, I don't remember anybody

this is what I remember. I remember he sought the employment.

Obviously, his wife, she had been there since the

inception. I knew Sutton before. He was from New Iberia,

Louisiana. He had worked for me for a short period of time, I

don't know, maybe a year -- I don't know how many years ago,

15 years ago or something like that -- in Lafayette, Louisiana.

I hadn't seen that guy. I had no contact with him

subsequent to that.

I hired his wife. Then he came and said he would

like to work. I considered that. I said, "Well, give me your

resume.”

Juneau clearly had contact with Lionel Sutton within that 15-year time frame.  Sutton stated that he was the one who asked Juneau to hire Reitano….they were absolutely in contact with each other.

His whole response there is rather aloof but that seems to be Pat Juneau’s general strategy…plausible deniability.  He played that card with the 409 expedited claims by suggesting they were part of a “sampling process” but I still haven’t been able to find any record of this sampling process in the court record.  More importantly, we still haven’t received a plausible excuse for expediting the Corps Constructors claim which occurred well after the fairness hearing and Corps Constructors couldn’t possibly have been part of a “sampling process”.

We also don't have any idea what knowledge Federal Judge Carl J. Barbier had of the 409 expedited claims or of Barbier's alleged "sampling process".   The Judge has been conveniently silent on that one. 

The Job Description

In this next byte, Sutton explains how his duties immediately shifted at the Claims Office, once he started working for Juneau.  He describes how he inadvertently became the “go-to” guy at the office and started fielding claimants’ and claims attorneys’ questions:

2 Lionel Sutton - 3 - What Lionel was doing at the DHECC.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

This is an interesting byte to me because it provides a snapshot into the operations and hierarchy of the office.  It’s pretty clear Juneau surrounded himself with “filters”, Sutton being one of the most important.  

I’m not criticizing Juneau here, I’m just noting that it appears he has a very hands-off approach to management.  That could explain how he may have allowed Kirk Fisher and David Odom to subcontract their own business, Alpha Consulting, to the Claims Office…perhaps he really didn’t know what was going on.  Once again…plausible deniability.

The Hammer Drops

In the next byte, I ask Lionel about the charges brought against him by Louis Freeh and how he first discovered he was being investigated:

2 Lionel Sutton - 4 - How Lionel found out he was being investigated.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

So, keep in mind that Sutton has repeatedly stated that he informed Juneau of his involvement with the Thonn claim before he ever took his part-time position at the Claims Office.  He does admit to asking for the referral fee on this claim which he passed off to Andry-Lerner before he took the job at the DHECC but he denies ever having tried to expedite and/or manipulate the claim once he started working at the office, an allegation of which Freeh accused him. 

In this byte he also points out that checking on claims was his job….he was continually being asked to check on the status of claims by the Claims Administrator, Pat Juneau, himself.  

I’m not playing defense attorney, I’m simply reiterating Sutton’s assertions here in case you’re too lazy to watch the video.  

The other allegations Freeh brought up against Sutton were his business dealings with Glen Lerner and that he, Sutton, had claims pending in the Claims Office.  Lionel addresses that matter in this byte:

2 Lionel Sutton - 6 - Romeo Papa and Lerner Biz deals.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

According to Lionel, there seemed to be no clear mandate regarding a conflict of interest with him being in business with Lerner or having a business claim filed in the DHECC while he was working within the Claims Office.  

The guidelines apparently weren’t even understood by Pat Juneau, himself, per the story Lionel Sutton told about Juneau’s son having a claim and Magistrate Shushan ordering Juneau to have his son withdraw the claim.  I don't honestly see what the problem was with Juneau's son having a claim in the system as long as Juneau wasn't manipulating it in any way but he had him withdraw it so there's no issue there.

But hang on...

Admittedly, the above explanation by Sutton may seem excusatory but I want you to listen to this next byte:

Lionel Sutton - 7 - Appeals Panelists.mov from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Members of the appeals panel had claims themselves?  (Did they have seafood claims?  I’ll explain why that matters later.)

Freeh: Ambiguity = "Crime"?  Or Freeh: "Prosecution" = $$$$?  Both.
  

Alright...let’s wrap this post up.

After working on this story for over a year, having talked to multiple sources and hearing this firsthand account by Lionel Sutton….I want to propose a basic thesis…actually a theory, if you will:

I don’t think anyone really knew what the ethical parameters of this settlement were because I don’t think the guy in charge, Pat Juneau, defined the parameters clearly from the onset of the settlement.  I don’t think he defined them because I don’t think he had a clear idea of what they should be to begin with.  

Or perhaps he did and he just didn’t do his job.

For a guy that is reportedly making 300k a month on this settlement and over 7 million to date (not substantiated…yet...but working on it)…..that’s inexcusable.  

Compound that with the fact that he’s reportedly billing this MDL settlement 40 hours a week while simultaneously serving as the Claims Administrator for two other MDL settlements….

….well….Houston...and London…we have a problem.   

Juneau's MO aside, what happened with the Freeh investigation is more important. 

Sutton, Reitano and Andry Lerner were offered up to BP and subsequently to the international MSM volcano gods by super-duper, glorified-gumshoe, Louis Freeh.  They were thrown into the mouth of the volcano and the lava did flow. 

(Keep in mind, that’s all Freeh really is…a private investigator hired by the Federal Court.  The guy has no ability to make criminal charges and if he or his minions have threatened people with that power then Freeh himself, and his employees, need to be investigated.)  

In his report, Freeh went so far as to suggest criminal charges should be brought up against Sutton, Reitano and Andry Lerner.  His job was supposed to root out all instances of corruption within the DHECC.  He's released two reports and ignored one of the main items he mentioned in his first report, the page 60 firm who falsified claims. 

Surprisingly, this guy’s company is now, possibly, the largest contractor in the settlement.

Try to wrap your head around this....Freeh “prosecuted” himself into an ever-expanding multimillion-dollar contract within this settlement.  And when he got in, everything started to change, including the actual terms of the settlement, itself, and the scrutiny of how claims are interpreted.   All to BP’s delight.

Also understand that no criminal charges have EVER been brought against the people he originally named in his first report.  None.  Nada.  Nothing.

When you read stories about BP's defeat in the appellate court...ignore the word "defeat".  BP has exactly what they want, the Freeh Group running the Claims Office.  

I”m going to break off here.  Next up we’re going to take a closer look at Louis Freeh’s “investigation”.  That will lead us into the Page 60 firm….yowza...

It’s good stuff, stay tuned.     

DHECC - Lionel Sutton Interview Part 1 - Corps Constructors

In the course of writing about the issues at the DHECC, I've come to the conclusion that mainstream media resources in this City and even national ones simply don't want to address the totality of this story.  Instead, they are satisfied with simply making a cursory glance and only choosing one side, BP, or the other, Pat Juneau, the PSC and the claimant attorneys.

The problem is, this story isn't a dichotomy.  There is a third party, the most important party, the people of the Gulf Coast who have been devastated by the BP oil spill and will continue to suffer for decades.  The reality is both BP and the "good ol' boys" running the show aren't nearly as divided with each other as the two entities are against the people to whom they are supposed be providing relief.  That complexity seems to be too difficult for MSM outlets like 60 Minutes, The New York Times, The LA Times, WWL-TV and a host of others to wrap their heads around.

Admittedly, I've struggled to tell the story myself but I am just one person with few resources.  The nature of blogging isn't exactly conducive to simplifying complex stories and what I'm doing here on AZ is really more of a running journal while I garner new information and sources as the story unfolds.

With that in mind, I've decided to begin compiling this story into a larger one (documentary, book, maybe both) about the nature of the oil and gas industry, the justice system, the state government - its regulatory entities and how they all intersect in the state of Louisiana.  Essentially it's a story about how this unholy union is destroying our state's environment, health and culture.

Last month I reached out to former DHECC employee Lionel Sutton after he began commenting on the blog.  While working at the Claims Office, Sutton, along with his wife Christine Reitano, were accused of various ethical breaches by court-appointed Special Master Louis J. Freeh.  In his first report, Freeh even went so far as to accuse Sutton of criminal activity and suggested that he should be prosecuted for the alleged crimes he committed while serving at the office.  Reitano was subsequently terminated by Claims Administrator Pat Juneau and she has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the Claims Office and BP.

To my surprise, Sutton not only agreed to the interview, he held no stipulations on the questions I may ask.

Last week I conducted the video interview which ran over two hours.  Aside from the larger story, my immediate goal with the material and AZ is to address the items in the interview individually over multiple posts as there is just simply too much to tackle in a "one and done" effort.

"...he's waited long enough.."

I want to kick off with an item that was of great importance to me in respect to an allegation Sutton had made in a court filing about having been asked by Pat Juneau to expedite a claim for one of Juneau's friends.  Here is the clip regarding that allegation:

DHECC - Lionel Sutton Interview Series - Corps Constructors 1 from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Corps Constructors is a Baton Rouge based construction company owned by John Ryan Nader.

According to Sutton, Pat Juneau was checking on the status of the claim and asked him to have it expedited because Juneau was friends with John Ryan's father, Sam Nader.  Sam Nader is the Assitant Athletics Director for LSU's football program.

While I'm not suggesting a quid pro quo, it is interesting to note that Pat Juneau's grandson, Jonathan Juneau, was recruited as a freshman walk-on to LSU's football team in 2012.

What I will suggest is that if this allegation by Sutton is true, the Claims Administrator, Pat Juneau, had a claim expedited for a friend and hence violated the terms of the settlement which states that all claims must be processed in the order they are received.

When I originally revealed that some of the Plaintiff Steering Committee members had 409 claims expedited, most of them their own, in the Fall of 2012, Mr. Juneau stated that these claims were expedited as part of a "sampling program" incorporated in preparation for the fairness hearing that occurred in November of 2012.  After repeated requests to the Office and the Court, I have found no minutes entry or any legal record mentioning the alleged sampling program.

Regardless, the Corps Constructors claim could not have been expedited as part of the alleged sampling program because it happened well after the fairness hearing took place.

I contacted the Claims Office per email last week and requested an interview with Mr. Juneau to present him with this issue and numerous others that I will address in forthcoming posts but I received no response.  Mr. Juneau recently appeared on 60 Minutes, WWL-TV and granted an interview with the New York Times but none of those entities queried him on the expedited claims issue so I was hoping to get his explanation to this Corps Constructors matter and other matters before I started posting.

If he won't respond to me, I'm hoping that at least one MSM entity will confront him on this issue.

It's important to note that Lionel Sutton did not know if the Corps Constructors claim had actually been paid out.  He just acknowledged having contacted Brown and Greer and asking them to move the claim ahead of all the others in queue.  I would like to ask Mr. Juneau if the claim was, in fact, paid ahead of other claimants.

I would particularly like to know why Mr. Juneau thinks his friend's son, a construction company in Baton Rouge, had "waited long enough" back in 2012 while many fisherman and businesses right on the Coast have waited years, still haven't been paid, and must now meet a whole different set of standards than Mr. Nader.

Coming Attractions

In the next segment I will address how Lionel Sutton was hired at the Claims Office and his response to the charges levied against him by Louis Freeh.  Later on, the interview segments will also address the fraudulent claims filed by the "page 60" PSC firm, the recent 495 "matching" policy passed by Judge Barbier which creates a whole new set of standards for claimants, and take a closer look at Louis Freeh's investigation material.

Stay tuned.

CORRECTION:  In the original post I mis-stated the date of the fairness hearing and the 409 expedited claims as being in 2010.  It was 2012 and I have corrected that.