James B. Letten (born September 12, 1953) is an American attorney. A career

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

, Letten served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana for more than eleven years. By the time Letten resigned as U.S. Attorney in December 2012, he was the longest-serving U.S. Attorney in the country. After stepping down, Letten joined

Tulane University Law School Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. In addition to the usual common ...

as an assistant dean. Letten later became of counsel with the firm of Butler Snow, while retaining his post at Tulane.

Early life and education

Letten was born at

Southern Baptist Hospital Ochsner Baptist Medical Center is a hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. The complex of hospital buildings is located on Napoleon Avenue in Uptown New Orleans. History Formerly known as Southern Baptist Hospital, it was founded in 1926 by the So ...

in New Orleans on September 12, 1953.Allen Johnson Jr.
Letten Loose
''New Orleans Magazine'' (October 2007). He is the only son of Alden and Dorothy "Dot" Letten; his father was a steel fabricator. Letten graduated from De La Salle High School in 1971. He received his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

in 1976 and his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

in 1979.James B. Letten, Assistant Dean for Experiential Learning
Tulane University Law School (accessed December 18, 2015).

Career

Letten worked for

Orleans Parish New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Harry Connick Sr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick (born March 27, 1926) is an American attorney who served as the district attorney of Orleans Parish (New Orleans), Louisiana from 1973 to 2003. His son, Harry Connick Jr., is an American musician. Connick is also a ...

for four years. In 1982, Letten became a federal prosecutor, beginning on an

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

strike force. He was part of the team that prosecuted several leaders of the New Orleans mafia and figures from the New York crime families. From 1994 to 2001, Letten was first assistant U.S. attorney under then-U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan Jr. (who later became Orleans Parish district attorney). In that position Letten was best known as the lead prosecutor in the

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

trial of former

Louisiana Governor The governor of Louisiana (french: Gouverneur de la Louisiane) is the head of state and head of government of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Louisiana's state government and is charged with enfor ...

Edwin Edwards Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972– ...

.Campbell Robertson
Crusading New Orleans Prosecutor to Quit, Facing Staff Misconduct
''New York Times'' (December 6, 2012). Letten also prosecuted former

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

David Duke David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a member ...

U.S. Attorney

Letten is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, having been appointed to the U.S. Attorney's position by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. Nonetheless, when Republicans lost the Presidency to

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in 2008, many Democrats, including

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Mary Landrieu Mary Loretta Landrieu ( ; born November 23, 1955) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as a United States senator from Louisiana from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Landrieu served as the Louisiana State Treasure ...

, took the unusual step of urging the new President to reappoint Letten. As U.S. Attorney, Letten became known for his "successful prosecutions of public officials," ranging from corrupt elected officials to corrupt judges, police officers, and school officials.Former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten joins Butler Snow law firm
Associated Press (November 4, 2015). The ''New York Times'' described him as "a popular crusader against the crooked traditions of Louisiana public servants." The ''

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of th ...

'' listed the following as the notable public corruption cases in which the U.S. Attorney's Office achieved convictions under Letten's leadership: "ex-Jefferson Parish Judges Ronald Bodenheimer and Alan Green; former

Orleans Parish School Board The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) governs the public school system that serves New Orleans, Louisiana. It includes the entirety of Orleans Parish, coterminous with New Orleans. The OPSB directly administers 6 schools and has granted charte ...

President Ellenese Brooks-Simms; ex-state Sen. Derrick Shepherd; former

St. Tammany Parish St. Tammany Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Tammany) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana named after Tamanend, the legendary Lenape Chief of Chiefs and the "Patron Saint of America." At the 2020 census, the population was 2 ...

Councilman Joe Impastato; a whole bunch of folks who worked for or did business with the Orleans Parish School Board; several high-profile associates of ex-Mayor

Marc Morial Marc Haydel Morial (born January 3, 1958) is an American political and civic leader and the current president of the National Urban League. Morial served as Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002 as the city's youngest Mayor, President of the ...

; and ex-New Orleans City Councilman

Oliver Thomas Oliver M. Thomas, Jr. (born February 10, 1957), is a Democratic politician, actor, writer, and poet from New Orleans. He served on the New Orleans City Council from 1994 to 2007. On August 13, 2007, Thomas resigned his council seat after pleadin ...

, who had been pegged as a front-runner in the 2010 mayor's race."Stephanie Grace
Louisiana U.S. Attorney Jim Letten is Obama's kind of prosecutor
''Times-Picayune'' (December 11, 2008). These successes gained Letten bipartisan support, including from both Louisiana's U.S. Senators, Democrat

and Republican

David Vitter David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. ...

. In September 2009, the ''Times-Picayune'' praised Letten and the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

for "bringing to justice" Bill Hubbard, who resigned as Saint John Parish president after receiving

bribes Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...

of $20,000 from contractors. After being retained in office by President Obama, Letten pursued a number of federal civil rights investigations into the

New Orleans Police Department The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) has primary responsibility for law enforcement in New Orleans, Louisiana. The department's jurisdiction covers all of Orleans Parish, while the city is divided into eight police districts. The NOPD has a ...

, a priority of the Obama administration's

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

. In 2010, the conservative provocateur videographer/prankster

James O'Keefe James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progr ...

, "who specialized in often deceptively edited undercover camera work to expose what he considers to liberal hypocrisies," pleaded guilty to federal

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

charges of entering the New Orleans offices of Senator Landrieu disguised as a telephone repairman and attempting to tamper with the office's phone system under false pretenses.Jennifer Koons
Former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten Unloads on Conservative Prankster James O'Keefe
, Main Justice (August 26, 2013).
''New Orleans Times-Picayune'' (August 26, 2013). fellow activists who accompanied O'Keefe also faced prosecution. Although the U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case, Letten recused himself because he knew the father of one of the men involved. In July 2013, after Letten left the U.S. Attorney's office to become assistant dean at Tulane law school, O'Keefe appeared at Letten's home, where he complained to Letten's wife about his prosecution, and later confronted Letten on the Tulane campus in a tense videotaped exchange. Letten called O'Keefe "scum" and told him to "stay away from my family." In December 2012, Letten resigned as U.S. Attorney, following revelations that senior prosecutors in Letten's office had made "provocative, even pugnacious comments about active criminal matters and other subjects under aliases at nola.com, the Web site of ''The Times-Picayune'' newspaper." Senator Mary Landrieu and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Eric Holder Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. Holder, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama, was the first African America ...

paid tribute to Letten's service.

Later career

In February 2013, Letten was appointed assistant dean of experiential learning at Tulane University Law School, his alma mater. Letten is in charge of the school's moot-court competition and six legal clinics. In November 2015, Letten joined the New Orleans office of the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

Butler Snow LLP as of counsel. Letten works with the firm's investigations and

white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

s group. He continues to simultaneously serve as Tulane assistant dean.

Naval service

Letten served in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

for two decades and retired as a

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

. Letten was a

naval intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

officer, with roles including (among others)

counter-intelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

and

intelligence analysis Intelligence analysis is the application of individual and collective cognitive methods to weigh data and test hypotheses within a secret socio-cultural context. The descriptions are drawn from what may only be available in the form of deliberate ...

. He spent more than twelve years as a

Naval Criminal Investigative Service The United States Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary law enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of the Navy. Its primary function is to investigate criminal activities involving the Navy and Marine Corps, though its ...

(NCIS) agent.

Personal life

Letten has been married to JoAnn Letten for over thirty years; they have two children. Letten has been noted for his "trademark" bushy

mustache A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ...

.Laura McKnight
Promoting the power of the stache
''Houma Courier'' (March 25, 2010).

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Letten, James B. 1953 births Lawyers from New Orleans Living people Louisiana Republicans Military personnel from Louisiana Tulane University Law School alumni Tulane University Law School faculty United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Louisiana United States Navy officers University of New Orleans alumni