Louisiana's Republican attorney general thinks it's 'religious bigotry' to call him out for not investigating Catholic church sex abuse

In a strongly-worded op-ed, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry accused the New Orleans Times-Picayune of "religious bigotry" after the newspaper published an article about him not investigating the Catholic church sex abuse scandal.

On September 6, the Times-Picayune published an article noting that Landry claimed his office is not authorized to investigate the scandal until local law enforcement refers it up to him. The article was titled "AG Jeff Landry says he has no authority to investigate Catholic church sex abuse" — a headline that apparently affronted the attorney general.

"Friday’s completely false title 'AG Jeff Landry says he has no authority to investigate Catholic church sex abuse' was nothing more than an over-the-top, sensationalized, false headline intended to mislead the public and attack me and my office," Landry wrote in a statement.

"Worse, the headline and entire tone of the story smacked of blatant, religious bigotry," he continued.

The statement that Landry said was submitted to the Times-Picayune as a letter to the editor accuses the newspaper of criticizing him because he's Catholic.

"As a father and a Catholic, I am deeply offended," the attorney general wrote. "This article by the Times-Picayune is pure unadulterated religious bigotry which we have not seen in this State since the hey-day of the Ku Klux Klan."

Landry wrote that his office "has not received one single complaint against any clergyman of the Catholic Church in the State of Louisiana."

Read Landry's entire statement via the Louisiana Department of Justice and the article about him via the Times-Picayune.