Bob Livingston, 83, grew up in New Orleans, served in the Navy, graduated from Tulane Law School, became a local prosecutor and won a special election to the United States House in 1977. Over time, he rose in the ranks to chair the Appropriations Committee and was nominated to be speaker but resigned in February 1999 when he admitted to a marital infidelity.
He formed a lobbying company in Washington and moved back to New Orleans in 2022. Livingston wrote “The Rainbow Chaser: The Man Who Gambled for Success and Broke Even,” published this year by Humanix Books.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Talk us through the process of writing “The Rainbow Chaser.” What made you want to write the book in the first place?
In February 2023, I got a knock on the door. The FBI wanted to talk to me about a case I had in 2018. We talked for about two hours. They knew a great deal about the person I represented, the then-candidate for the president of Ukraine. I gave them all the background, answered all the questions. I didn’t think anything about it.
The guy agent in a man bun handed me a subpoena for all my records — phone records, documents, computer records — anything we possibly had relating to the representation of (Julia) Tymoshenko. This was an investigation in whether I violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act. I knew damn well I hadn’t.
My whole world was turned upside down by these politically directed, ill-motivated prosecutors and FBI agents in the Justice Department under the Biden administration. Why? I am absolutely convinced it was because I was a Republican who had supported President Trump. I was one of many thousands of people they went after, if not hundreds.
I fought it. It cost me a fortune. But I didn’t get charged. I saved my reputation. I saved my company. I saved my employees. And I beat them. And not everybody does. The more I thought about it, the more angry I got, and I started writing this book. It was therapeutic.
A lot of people believe that Trump has engaged in lawfare. You don’t agree?
I can’t answer yes or no. If he does, then he’s as wrong as the Biden administration was. But nobody was a victim of lawfare more than he was. That whole Russian collusion was bull****. The two impeachment charges were bull****. I think Biden wanted to destroy him so he couldn’t run again.
You chose to write honestly about your father’s flaws. Why?
Going back in the history of the country, I had a stellar family. It was very successful and influential at the beginning of this country. But as I write, over the generations, my family went into decline. It culminated with my father making a mess of his life, and he died at 51 of alcoholism. The combination inspired me, probably, to do something better.
Compromise has become a dirty word for a lot of elected officials today. Yet you praise compromise. Why?
That’s what the Constitution envisions. It’s necessary to run a free Republic. I am upset with the fact that today is very much unlike it was when I was there. When I was there, I had Democrat friends. Today you don’t see that. It bothers me. The country is factionalizing.
Open debate and compromise are mandatory for the continuity of this nation. I don’t like anybody who says, “My way or the highway.” As far as I’m concerned, they can take the highway and get the hell out of Congress.
You believe that Joe Biden and his attorney general, Merrick Garland, were “corrupt to the core.” Why?
It wasn’t just my case. I believe my case was example number one. What they did to Trump was paramount. What they did to the J6ers was incredible. I’ve talked to too many people who were just passing by, who were there. A lot of people believed that the elections had been slammed. So they go to Washington and they protest, which is Americans’ fundamental right. In many instances, I’ve seen the films, the cops invited them into the Capitol. If they were in the Capitol for three or four minutes, they got prosecuted.
I’ve seen video of protesters acting very violently.
Yes, yes. Maybe a handful.
It looked to me like it was more than a handful.
I do not defend in the book those people who were violent. If they were violent, I don’t care if they were prosecuted. But proportionately, the vast majority of people were just walking by.
Any regrets about voting for Donald Trump?
No. I’d vote for him today. I acknowledge all of the complaints about his personality. But I look at his performance. I think he has been the most performative president in my lifetime since FDR. Has he misjudged things and been erratic on occasion? Yes. He said we’d be out of Iran in six weeks. It’s been six months, and we’re not out of Iran. I think he misjudged that. Do I question his fundamental cause of not letting the Iranians have nuclear weapons? I totally agree with that.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has been criticized for being too submissive to Trump and hasn’t acted enough as an independent leader of a coequal branch of government. What do you think?
If he had a margin of 10-15 people, then he’d have the opportunity to be more independent. But with a margin of one, two or three people, he has no latitude. What he’s accomplished in passing some things is incredible considering that he has no margin.
You rose through the ranks to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee and almost became Speaker of the House. What was the key to your rise in Washington?
Some people are show horses. Some people are work horses. I’m not a show horse.
Source: www.nola.com
