Lawyer, crisis management firm now part of malfeasance investigation response
BATON ROUGE – As investigations continue involving potential criminal activity by a state conservation official, that official is now represented by a lawyer and the company whose contract sparked the investigation is speaking through a crisis management firm.
Johnny Adams, assistant commissioner of conservation for the Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources, has been suspended with pay since the Investigative Unit revealed that authorities had searched his bank records in an investigation of potential criminal malfeasance.
A search warrant filed last week says that Adams and his wife, Metro Council member Laurie Adams, paid $780,000 cash for a house last year, shortly after a company with a contract through his department to provide financial backing for oil drillers withdrew the same amount from its own account.
John McLindon is representing Johnny Adams.
“There is a lot of misinformation out there and we will set the record straight in due time,” he wrote in an email about the investigation.
He wouldn’t answer any further questions.
