Sure Looks Like It Was Trent’s Brother-in-Law

Any speculation on whether Trent knew this was coming down when he resigned the other day?

ProminentMississippi trial attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, the brother-in-lawof outgoing GOP Sen. Trent Lott, was indicted by a federal grand juryWednesday on charges that he and four other men tried to bribe aMississippi state court judge.

According to the 13-page indictment, Scruggs and three otherattorneys — including Lott’s nephew Zach — attempted to bribeMississippi 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 wasnamed as a defendant in a dispute involving $26.5 million in attorneys’fees stemming from a court settlement with State Farm Insurance overHurricane Katrina claims.

The indictment alleges that the bribe was intended to resolve the case in Scruggs’ and his firm’s favor.

Now, as bmaz pointed out on yesterday’s thread on Scruggs, Scruggs was due to hold a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton–so it’s not like Scruggs espouses the same politics as his brother-in-law, and it adds this to a long list of cases in which Trial Lawyers who support Democrats get into legal trouble. Also note, this is not the Paul Minor case, as I suggested it might be yesterday. This has to do with Scruggs’ efforts to help a lot of Katrina victims get their money from State Farm.

I have no idea if there’s merit to the charges–with this DOJ, who knows?