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September 16, 1922 ~ January 21, 2021

ABBEVILLE — A Mass of Christian Burial was held at 2:00 PM on Monday, January 25, 2021 at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church honoring the life of C. Paul Bergeron, 98, who died Thursday, January 21, 2021 at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. Reverend Louis J. Richard officiated the service.
He was a member of the Management Team of the Jefferson Island Mine having progressed from accountant to purchasing agent to personnel manager to superintendent of employee relations. He was with the company for 34 years. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was a living legend of the Erath Museum. He was also a former member of the New Iberia Lions Club, Abbeville Rotary and the Abbeville Country Club. For 15 years he served as Extraordinary Minister of Communion at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church and the homebound.
He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Audrey Bergeron; children, Susan Boudreaux, Edmond X Bergeron, Phd and his wife, Shirley, Louise Hollier and her husband, Richard, and Jill Broussard and her husband, Glenn; and a host of grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by parents, Edmond Bergeron and the former Louise Hardy; and son-in-law, Kirk Boudreaux.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Monday, January 25, 2021 from 9:30 AM until 1:45 PM when the procession will depart for the church. A rosary was prayed at 10:00 AM.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

Narcotics located by an employee at a motel in Abbeville resulted in the arrest of a Lafayette women.
On Jan. 23, 2021, at approximately 11 a.m., officers of the Abbeville Police Department responded to the Sunbelt Lodge on Veterans Memorial Drive in reference to staff finding narcotics in one of the rooms after one of the tenants of the room had left after checking out.
Officers recovered two containers, disguised as Arizona Tea cans with false tops. In the containers officers located a half-pound of suspected methamphetamine, packaged in eight one-ounce packages. Officers began an investigation to determine who the narcotics belonged to. After officers left, they received another call, stating that the subjects who were in the room were now back and threatening the staff and demanding that the motel return their items from the room. The staff called the police again and the subjects fled the motel.
Based on video footage, officers were able to determine the type of vehicle that fled the motel and located the vehicle a short while later. Officers located a female subject identified as Paradise Thornton of Lafayette and spoke to her. Officers located two one-ounce packages of suspected methamphetamine on Ms. Thornton. Thornton was subsequently placed under arrest. Thornton was transported to the Abbeville Police Department where she was booked for Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Obstruction of Justice. Thornton was then transported to the Vermilion Parish Correctional Center. This case is still under investigation.
Chief of Police William Spearman would like to commend the officers on a job well done. Chief Spearman would also like to remind all of the citizens that we are there, 24 hours a day, to serve you. We encourage all of our citizens to stay vigilant and contact us if you need. In addition to dialing 911, you can contact us at 893-2511. You may contact our “Tips” line at 892-6777. All callers may remain anonymous. Citizens may also send anonymous tips through the Tip411 system at the department’s Facebook page @ www.facebook.com/AbbevillePolice Department/, the official web page @ www.abbevillepd.com by clicking on the “Submit a Tip” link provided or through the official Abbeville Police Department app, which can be downloaded through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

By Robert Romano

Say what you will about outgoing President Donald Trump, but one thing he never did was fire former Special Counsel Robert Mueller. In fact, President Trump let Special Counsel Mueller finish his job investigating false allegations the President and his campaign had conspired with Russia to steal the 2016 election.
It was the Mueller report that ultimately exonerated Trump, with Mueller concluding in his 2019 report that, “[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” and “the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference.”
Now, the question is whether incoming President Joe Biden will allow Special Counsel John Durham to finish his job in pursuing his own ongoing criminal investigation into the origins of the botched investigation into Trump and Russia.
According to the Oct. 19, 2020 order appointing Durham, former Attorney General William Barr wrote, “On May 13, 2019, I directed United States Attorney John Durham to conduct a preliminary review into certain matters related to the 2016 presidential election campaigns, and Mr. Durham’s review subsequently developed into a criminal investigation, which remains ongoing. Following consultation with Mr. Durham, I have determined that, in light of the extraordinary circumstances relating to these matters, the public interest warrants Mr. Durham continuing this investigation pursuant to the powers and independence afforded by the Special Counsel regulations. Accordingly, by virtue of the authority vested in the Attorney General, including 28 U.S.C. §§ 509, 510, and 515, in order to discharge my responsibility to provide supervision and management of the Department of Justice, and to ensure a full and thorough investigation of these matters…John Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, is appointed to serve as Special Counsel for the Department of Justice.”
In addition, Barr set forth Durham’s broad jurisdiction: “The Special Counsel is authorized to investigate whether any federal official, employee, or any other person or entity violated the law in connection with the intelligence, counter-intelligence, or law-enforcement activities directed at the 2016 presidential campaigns, individuals associated with those campaigns, and individuals associated with the administration of President Donald J. Trump, including but not limited to Crossfire Hurricane and the investigation of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, Ill.”
Additionally, in his explanatory letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, dated Dec. 1, Barr added, “Although I had expected Mr. Durham to complete his work by the summer of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as additional information he uncovered, prevented him from doing so. In advance of the presidential election, I decided to appoint Mr. Durham as a Special Counsel to provide him and his team with the assurance that they could complete their work, without regard to the outcome of the election.”
Biden has very good reasons to steer clear of the Durham probe.
For starters, Barr has already advertised that Durham is deep into an ongoing criminal investigation. Laws were broken. That much we know.
Biden certainly could fire Durham under his Article II appointment powers. But if Durham were to be fired and the investigation was terminated prematurely without any new charges or a final report, it would give the appearance of a cover-up.
And it would come at a time when there are still more revelations to come as President Trump at the last minute on Jan. 19 has declassified a trove of documents related to the original investigation by the FBI. From the memorandum:
“At my request, on December 30, 2020, the Department of Justice provided the White House with a binder of materials related to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Portions of the documents in the binder have remained classified and have not been released to the Congress or the public. I requested the documents so that a declassification review could be performed and so I could determine to what extent materials in the binder should be released in unclassified form. I determined that the materials in that binder should be declassified to the maximum extent possible. In response, and as part of the iterative process of the declassification review, under a cover letter dated January 17, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation noted its continuing objection to any further declassification of the materials in the binder and also, on the basis of a review that included Intelligence Community equities, identified the passages that it believed it was most crucial to keep from public disclosure. I have determined to accept the redactions proposed for continued classification by the FBI in that January 17 submission.”
The order added, “I hereby declassify the remaining materials in the binder. This is my final determination under the declassification review and I have directed the Attorney General to implement the redactions proposed in the FBI’s January 17 submission and return to the White House an appropriately redacted copy.”
Meaning, whether Durham completes his investigation or is stopped by the Biden White House, there is more information to come on the origins of the investigation into Trump that falsely alleged he was a Russian agent, using the dossier of former British spy Christopher Steele that was paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016 to distract from Clinton’s own private email server containing classified information scandal.
No word yet on whether that will include new information on the Jan. 5, 2017 Oval Office meeting with former President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Biden, former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates that a now fully declassified letter former National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote to herself on Jan. 20, 2017, memorializing the meeting, showing the investigation was ordered by Obama to be carried over into the Trump administration.
Per Rice’s summary “On January 5, following a briefing by IC leadership on Russian hacking during the 2016 Presidential election, President Obama had a brief follow-on conversation with FBI Director Jim Comey and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates in the Oval Office. Vice President Biden and I were also present.”
This was the Russian interference into the 2016 election briefing given a day before then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper issued the joint intelligence assessment on the same. However, the version that was given to former President Barack Obama and then-President-Elect Trump on Jan. 5, 2017 included some of the false allegations leveled by the Steele dossier that Trump was a Russian agent.
This was the same dossier that led to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants aimed at former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page beginning in Oct. 2016, his contacts in the campaign, and his contact’s contacts in the campaign and into Trump’s inner circle.
There is also no word yet on what direction Durham has taken in his investigation, although it has already been said that neither Biden nor Obama are subjects of the investigation.
In May 2020, when Barr was tasking Durham on the investigation, he stated at a press conference, “As to President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don’t expect Mr. Durham’s work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man.”
As President, Biden has a duty to ensure that he and his Justice Department do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Allowing Durham to finish his investigation, and then working with Congress to reform FISA in a bipartisan manner so this never happens again could help restore public confidence in what is perceived to be a two-tiered justice system.
When the shoe was on the other foot, an entire section of the Mueller report examined potential obstruction of justice by Trump for discussing potentially firing Mueller with then-White House Counsel Don McGahn. It ultimately ducked on the question of constitutional authority of firing Mueller and instead focused on a disagreement between President Trump and McGahn over whether the President had ordered McGahn to fire Mueller, and whether Trump’s alleged direction of McGahn to change his story had constituted obstruction.
Whatever really happened, Mueller was not fired. Trump had every reason after the firing of former FBI Director James Comey to shut down Mueller too for continuing an investigation that had a false pretense and was tearing the country apart. But he didn’t.
And that is the standard by which Biden will be judged when it comes to Durham.

Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.

Violette Rose Rosas
A daughter, Violette Rose Rosas, was born on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at Abbeville General to Mr. and Mrs. Juan Jose Guadalupe Rosas of Kaplan. The mother is the former Taylor Dawn Broussard.

Embrie Rose Meaux
A daughter, Embrie Rose Meaux, was born on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at Abbeville General to Keragan Lee Record and William Joseph Meaux of Erath.

Sophia Grace Pegg
A daughter, Sophia Grace Pegg, was born on Friday, January 15, 2021 at Abbeville General to Tristen Paize Thibodeaux and Christopher Adam Pegg.

Lillianna Marie Rose Marceaux
A daughter, Lillianna Marie Rose Marceaux, was born on Sunday, January 17, 2021 at Abbeville General to Bethany Lillian Theall and Torrey Christian Marceaux of Kaplan.

Mary Peewee
Dorthy Ficklen
A daughter, Mary Peewee Dorthy Ficklen, was born on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at Abbeville General to Tareasha Equail Ficklen of Abbeville.

Lincoln Andrew Marceaux
A son, Lincoln Andrew Marceaux, was born on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 to Sydnie Rae Whitman and Trey James Marceaux of New Iberia.