Trent Lott's Brother-In-Law, Nephew, Indicted On Federal Bribery Charges
November 28, 2007
Prominent Mississippi trial attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, the brother-in-law of outgoing GOP Sen. Trent Lott, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on charges that he and four other men tried to bribe a Mississippi state court judge.
According to the 13-page indictment, Scruggs and three other attorneys -- including Lott's nephew Zach -- attempted to bribe Mississippi Third Circuit Court Judge Henry L. Lackey with at least $40,000 in cash.
Lackey was assigned to hear a lawsuit in which Scruggs' firm was named as a defendant in a dispute involving $26.5 million in attorneys' fees stemming from a court settlement with State Farm Insurance over Hurricane Katrina claims. The indictment alleges that the bribe was intended to resolve the case in Scruggs' and his firm's favor. Also charged was Sidney A. Backstrom, an attorney at Scruggs' firm; Timothy R. Balducci, a New Albany, Miss., lawyer; and former State Auditor Steven A. Patterson, an employee of Balducci's law firm.
Neither Scruggs nor an attorney for the firm, Joey Langston, returned telephone messages seeking comment. Langston does not work at The Scruggs Law Firm. Lott's office did not respond to a request for comment. Lott is not named in the indictment, and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
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Scruggs, long a power player in Mississippi legal circles, rose to prominence after securing huge verdicts for plaintiffs in asbestos litigation, and from his role in brokering a multibillion dollar settlement with tobacco companies in the 1990s. He later represented hundreds of Gulf Coast homeowners -- including Lott -- whose claims were denied by insurance companies in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Lott's home in Pascagoula was destroyed by the storm. The case at the center of the bribery allegations involves a fee dispute between Scruggs' firm and an attorney, John Jones, who did work on behalf of Katrina plaintiffs.
It should be repeated that Lott is not named in the indictment. But the timing is awfully curious, eh what?
And does anyone seriously doubt that a crooked Republican s.o.b. like Lott would try to find a way to profit from the Katrina disaster? And involve his family, who also happen to be prominent players in the Mississippi GOP?
This diary is long on speculation and short on original facts. But perhaps someone with a greater working knowledge of Lott and Mississippi politics in general can fill us in?
I can't help but that believe that the amount of gross corruption spawned by Katrina recovery / rebuilding rivals that of Iraq's. And where there's gross corruption, you can usually find a bunch of Republicans at the center of it.
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[UPDATE: As was pointed out below, Scruggs is actually a Democrat. At least that's where most (though not all) of his campagin contributions go.
My fault, especially since that info was in the article I linked to. Apologies.
It still doesn't preclude Lott's involvement, but it's a healthy reminder that there are plenty of corrupt Democrats too...even if this indictment goes nowhere, that's true.]
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