Edwin Edwards & the Machinery of Suspicion

In a single, heavily redacted volume, FBI memoranda chart the federal government’s long, uneasy pursuit of Edwin Edwards—revealing as much about their obsession as about his alleged corruption.

In early July 2023, nearly two years after his death, the FBI quietly released a declassified but heavily redacted 328-page volume about four-term Louisiana Gov. Edwin Washington Edwards through its online “vault.” Edwards, a charismatic and enduringly popular Democrat and the only person in Louisiana history to serve in all three branches and all three levels of government, was hounded by allegations of corruption throughout his career.

In May 2000, five years after his final term as governor and following a controversial trial overseen by an erratic and hostile judge, Frank Polozola, Edwards was convicted on 17 charges related to a purported shakedown scheme involving the issuance of casino licenses. Judge Polozola, whose imperial self-regard and dictatorial courtroom management style earned him the nickname “Ayatollah Polozola,” handed Edwards a ten-year sentence, a punishment many believed was equivalent to the death penalty considering Edwards’s age.