Ex-New Orleans Mayor Nagin returns to stand
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin continues to play down his role in approving contracts for city work as he is cross-examined in his federal corruption trial.
He returned to the witness stand Friday and was confronted with documents in which he approved a series of contracts for Three Fold Consultants — owned by a witness who has said he bribed Nagin with more than $60,000.
Nagin took the stand in his own defense Thursday. Under questioning from his attorney, Nagin flatly denied accepting or seeking bribes during his two terms as mayor from 2002 to 2010.
Prosecutors allege that the former Democratic mayor's corruption included the period after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, when contractors sought to benefit from potentially lucrative rebuilding jobs in the devastated city.
