"The bridge" reared its head on the campaign trail again this afternoon.  During Spike Lee's documentary, "When the levees broke," Karen Carter had harsh words for the Jefferson Parish police who blocked New Orleanians from crossing the Crescent City Bridge into Gretna.  Sheriff Harry Lee, part of the team who made the call sending police with dogs and shotguns, was furious and has been a vocal opponent of Karen throughout the election.  Yesterday, he sent out a mailing to "chronic voters in Jefferson Parish" telling them of his "UTTER CONTEMPT for Karen Carter," and asking them to "Just say NO!" to her campaign.  

Lee, who doesn't live in the district, called a press conference to discuss the mailer and his disdain for the challenger.  He began his non-endorsement/endorsement of Congressman Jefferson by attacking Karen Carter on choice and gay marriage.  He said that he didn't necessarily disagree with her, but that "80 to 90 percent" of the people in Jefferson Parish did.  Then he played a clip of Karen's Spike Lee interview and railed against her for about 3 minutes before taking questions from the press.  

Unfortunately, it appears that Lee, a lawman, might find himself running afoul of FEC regulations in his zeal for revenge.  He admitted during the q&a that the mailing cost $14,000 -- paid for by his Sheriff's campaign committee fund.  Big problem, that's illegal under FEC rules.  What's more, the disclaimer on the mailing says, "Paid for by Harry Lee," which is not the name of his campaign committee.  Finally, when quizzed on the subject by reporters (and me) he said that if he ran afoul of the rules he would pay for it out of his own pocket ... also illegal.  I stuck around after the press conference to ask some more questions (camera turned off -- I'm no Connecticut Bob) and it became clear to me that whoever was advising Lee believed that if it wasn't an actual endorsement of Jefferson, Lee wasn't bound by spending limits and the money (if over a certain amount) didn't need to come from a political action committee.  Lee also really believes that worst case scenario he can pay for it out of his own pocket.  He abruptly ended our back and forth by saying his lawyer had it all figured out.  I wish Adam B. was with me, but we'll see how it turns out ... No word on if anyone is going to step up and file the FEC complaint.

Finally, the video linked above explains why Lee wouldn't let people cross over the bridge into New Orleans.  It also goes into Jefferson's legal problems with a pretty entertaining exchange between the colorful Sheriff and members of the local media.