I.G. report outlines Painter abuses

The State Inspector General’s Office has released a report today accusing Murphy Painter, the former head of the state’s Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, of illegally accessing criminal and motor vehicle records of people not regulated by the ATC. According to the report, Painter submitted more than 1,150 illegal searches of people, including: Wendy Vitter, the wife of U.S. Sen. David Vitter; former LSU quarterback Tommy Hodson; attorney Jill Craft Arnold, who represented several former ATC employees in a suit against Painter; and an LSU student who sent an anonymous complaint about Painter to 225 magazine and WAFB. The report says Painter continued the practice, even after twice being admonished by the Louisiana State Police for improperly using the system. In a written response submitted by his attorney, Painter denies conducting many of the illegal searches and says others were done as part of legitimate business. Stephen Street, the state inspector general, says Painter abused “confidential law enforcement databases on a colossal scale.” “Even worse is the fact that in several instances that we identified, Mr. Painter took it to the next level by physically going to the homes of innocent citizens and conducting covert surveillance upon them and their neighbors. That is an outrageous abuse of authority,” Street says. Read the full report here. Painter stepped down from his job in August. He had led the office since 1996, under three different governors.