State Representative Barbara Norton Refuses to Answer Reporters Questions

State Representative Barbara Norton called a news conference to talk about a report that she was under investigation. But she refused to answer questions from members of the media.

Norton did read a prepared statement which said in part:

These are the same allegations from 2015 that both agencies (the Caddo D.A.'s office and the State Attorney General) reviewed and found to be unsubstantiated. It is also interesting that the same false allegations were printed in 2015 by the same publication in 2015 around election time.

Norton also read from her statement information about her personal income:

Further, assumptions were made regarding my income and financial status which are grossly inaccurate. The salary that the publication makes reference to is the salary that all members of the Legislature receive and does not take into account any other sources of income. As part of my private income, I am a retiree of AT&T after 28 years of employment as well as having other sources of income.

But when KEEL News tried to ask Norton about the status of her non profit organization, the African-American Celebration Corporation, she said that information "is in my car", but no one provided that documentation to us. As of noon on Wednesday, that group was "not in good standing" with the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office. But we checked again today, and a report was filed on July 17th and the agency is now active and "in good standing".