British comedian and political commentator John Oliver, in a Nov. 11 episode of "Last Week Tonight" on HBO, aimed his political satire at former Louisiana Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle.
In an episode titled "Drain the Swamp," Oliver mocked President Donald Trump's efforts to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C. Oliver featured Angelle, who heads up the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, as an example of how Trump actually is not draining the swamp.
The BSEE replaced the federal Minerals Management Service following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Former U.S. Coast Guard officers headed up BSEE's marine safety efforts before Angelle, Oliver said.
Angelle, an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 2015 and the 3rd Congressional District of Louisiana in 2017, later served on the board of Sonoco Logistics Partners, an oil pipeline company, where he earned nearly $1 million, according to Oliver,
In May 2017, he was appointed BSEE director.
Oliver played video, allegedly from a Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Expo conference in 2017, where Angelle gave oil and gas industry representatives his work cell phone number, encouraging them to call rather than text.
"Everything you text me is a public record, so be careful," Angelle said. "This is a big opportunity for you to engage with me on what you believe we ought to be about."
Oliver said it was outrageous for several reasons, first of which is Angelle, a public employee, was encouraging people to avoid public records laws. Oliver also repeated Angelle's cell phone number.
When The Daily Advertiser called that number Tuesday, a recording said the cell phone customer is not available and we should try again later.
