The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into claims from Rep. Bennie Thompson that federal and state officials are using local prosecutions to suppress African-American voting and political participation in Hattiesburg.
Thompson first contacted U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch in April to express his concerns and ask Lynch to look into the prosecutions and “other intimidation methods in furtherance of a local political agenda.”
The state’s lone Democrat in Congress, Thompson told Lynch he “received many calls and letters from citizens and community leaders” in the Hattiesburg area, which is not in Thompson’s district, “alleging that there is an organized targeting of the African-American community” for political purposes.
“I implore you to not just assign this investigation to the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Mississippi,” Thompson wrote, “but rather, directly investigate this matter.”
In an Aug. 19 letter, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Peter J. Kadzik told Thompson, D-Bolton, that his “allegations of misconduct surrounding municipal elections” in Hattiesburg “are currently under review” by the agency’s offices of Professional Responsibility and Inspector General.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Jackson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Thompson’s letter, he said all the complaints stem from Hattiesburg’s 2013 municipal election for which a re-vote was ordered by a circuit court. Ultimately, the city’s longtime mayor, Johnny Dupree, an African-American and a Democrat, was declared the winner.
In his letter, Thompson says that “high-profile” supporters of Dupree are being punished through actions by the FBI, District Attorney’s office, U.S. Attorney’s office in Jackson and the Mississippi state auditor.
Kelley Ryan, an auditor’s spokesperson, and Brett Carr with the FBI declined to comment. Other agencies named in Thompson’s letter have not yet responded to Mississippi Today’s inquiries.
Patricia Burchell, the district attorney for Forrest and Perry counties, and state Auditor Stacey Pickering are Republicans. The FBI is a part of the Department of Justice, and U.S. Attorney Greg Davis of Jackson was appointed by President Obama.
Federal prosecutions are pending against the Rev. Kenneth Fairley, Dupree’s campaign manager, and Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Charles Bolton and his wife, Linda, also Dupree supporters.
Fairley is charged with fraud in a housing rehabilitation program, and the Boltons are charged with income tax evasion. Fairley is set for a Sept. 6 trial and the Boltons on Sept. 16, both before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett.
Court documents show that the Bolton case is being handled by federal prosecutors from Louisiana’s Eastern District in New Orleans.
in his letter, Thompson calls the Boltons’ indictment “the most-clearly veiled attempt at suppression as there is clear evidence that Chief Deputy Bolton had no part in evading taxes, but rather cashed checks for an individual who used his business.”
Among other issues the congressman raised with Lynch are:
• The resignation of a city clerk because of threats from two city council members
• The issuance of seven misdemeanor indictment accusations of voter fraud
• A lawsuit against the city attorney for investigating a misconduct claim
Thompson told Lynch in his letter: “At the very least, this is a case of overreaching by local, state and federal officials as a way of punishing political enemies. At its worst, this is a case of concerted action by many federal and state officials to target and manipulate the actions of African-Americans in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.”
“Either way, it is extremely important that these charges be looked into.”
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Republish this article
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
- Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
- Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
- You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
- If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
- You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
- You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
- Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
- You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
- You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
- If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
I thought Kenneth Fairley was in prison already?
I wonder if his chief of staff will go to jail?