If you’re just becoming aware of this strange situation we call “Scruggsiana,” you may want to review a few earlier posts in the series to get up-to-speed quickly. For instance:
- The story broke first with a search of Dickie Scruggs’s law office on November 27th, then the indictment of Scruggs and four others the next day. This drew folo’s attention, along with the observation that Dickie is Trent Lott’s brother-in-law, and that Lott had resigned the day before the search. Scruggs was indicted along with his son Zach, their law partner Sid Backstrom, and Tim Balducci and Steve Patterson for bribing circuit judge Henry Lackey in the case Jones, Funderburg v. Scruggs. folo ran descriptions of news accounts of the arraignment (and grounding of Scruggs’s plane), and later a post about the indictment and local coverage of the arraignment.
- The Wall Street Journal did a story about the case, interviewing Judge Lackey, who has not talked about the case to the media since.
- By December 1, observers noted that a defendant seemed scarce in public view, and news reports began to appear suggesting that defendant Tim Balducci, the lawyer accused of actually approaching Judge Lackey about the bribe, had become a witness for the government. This was confirmed when Balducci was arraigned and then pled guilty on December 5th.
- Also on December 5th, Trent Lott gave an interview in Washington in which he denied any coincidence in timing between his retirement and the Scruggs investigation (which, he said, he had not known about ahead of time).
- As time passed, folo began to sort through the Jones, Funderburg lawsuit, posting several times about that lawsuit and other background information.
- One of the most significant (if slow-emerging) pieces of the whole mess is the interweaving of private and public forces and resources that’s gone on for several years in Mississippi. Not only private attorneys but state officeholders now have more splaining to do than they may be equipped for (just sayin’).
- The ones to whom this job of delicate splaining will fall are, of course, the defense attorneys hired by the accused. folo has done its dead-level best to keep up with who’s whose, but it seems practically none of these guys much want to dance with who brung ‘im. (This is the one page on the whole site that may tickle the illiterate — even cats crack up when they see it.)
- December 10 marked two phenomena of related import: Joey Langston’s law office got raided, leading to what still stands as folo’s funniest comment-thread to date. (Er, sometimes posts giggle and run away too.)
- Lest you suspect Trent Lott of being the only (ex-)U.S. Senator whose name has come up in Scruggsiana, Fred Thompson and Joe Biden woefully beg to differ.
- On December 14, other names swam into clearer (if not yet “clear”) focus, including David Nutt and Bill Jones — and never let us overlook P.L. Blake, the man to whom Dickie Scruggs is paying $50 million over 20 years . . . though neither can quite explain why.
- And then along came former Hinds County (Jackson) D.A. Ed Peters and current Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter to open up another vein of this mother lode of reek (“Who and where next?” echoes folo’s constant refrain).
There’s much, much more to Scruggsiana — other cases (civil and criminal) in both Mississippi and Alabama, other important figures, other pots of money whose destinations are still to be discovered — but this much will get you well started. Lawd only knows how long it may take, but at some far-distant point — we dare say — it will also be well ended.
lotus and NMC
Lotus honey, it doesn’t begin to do a lick of justice for what you and this bunch of fine folks are doing here but I did try and convey that this Scruggs case is a Big Deal and put up a post and directed the few readers I have to come by and take a closer looksie here.
Y’all are some awe inspiring individuals and deserve a lot of respect for your efforts.
I put you on my blogroll too.
XO XO
Busted
And backatcha, dear Busted!
I hope (and expect) your readers and other newcomers here will quickly share your and my awe of the wonderful Mississippi-bred minds contributing here. They’re such a fine antidote to the tacky news we’ve got to parse.
I’m delighted to provide them a silver lining — this safe place to discover each other and get to tawkin’. You sure don’t have to be MS-connected to enjoy yourself here, though, so Y’all Come!
You guys have done a good job. If I hear from someone that something new has happened in this case, the first thing I do is check here to see if it really has or not.
I had been thinking about putting together some of the more outrageous statemets that have come from some of the defendants, who are not wearing their junior Gman badge. If you go back, Langston, Patterson, his wife, people at the Christmans party, and others, have said some things that subsequent events have made pretty amusing. A timeline of quotes followed by the rebutting event would be pretty funny, and interesting, to read.
And, knowing how things work, I would not be highly surprised to find when this is all over that some FBI agent or AUSA somewhere, didn’t work a lead that came from here or some other blog, that came to fruition.
I have worked on a lot of criminal investigations in the past, including some very public ones, and you would be surprised exactly how bizzarely many of the issues and facts in them, end up being discovered.
Oh, observer, that would be great! And anybody who wants to pitch in to help you would be welcome, I bet?
Yeh, there’re so many ways to approach this thing, but my perennial fave is “unintended comedy.” (Or at least irony.)
You want to make a start on that, observer, and I’ll put it up as a post that commenters can add to? Then when it reaches critical mass, you can get it all organized to suit you?
(afotl and I want that Debbie Patterson jewel in there, fer sher.)
Okay, here we go.
November 27, 2007-
Search of Scruggs Law Firm -Joey Langston “We’re as confident as we can be that this is nothing more than the federal authorities acting on information that will prove to be inaccurate and untrue,” Langston said.
January 14, 2008- Langston pleads guilty to attemtped bribery.
You’re in bidness upstairs now, observer — enjoy!
I have to go work and pay some bills, now. But, “I shall return”.
great work lotus! some of the links aren’t working though.
Drat, tell me which ones, dwp. Sorry!
i can’t get anything between judge lackey’s interview and fred thompson/joe biden to work (those links work fine though). then i can’t get nuthin after the thompson/biden one to work.
and i heard a rumor yesterday that fred thompson is dropping out of the presidential race this week even though south carolina is where he would be expected to do really really well. hmmmmm
dwp, try again. I think all but the “folo began to sort through Jones, Funderburg” ones should work again — that’s NMC’s and I’m not sure which posts he’s referring to there. We’ll get ‘em back ASAP.
Meanwhile, I’d thank the dang blog not to eat so many of my links in one mouthful, jeez!
Bet Fred Thompson just wishes he’d never thought of running at all. He kinda reminds me of some of his Mississippi connections . . . had a nice gig going then got grabby above his abilities and ruined everything.
Anyone know why 25 U.S. Marshalls have flown into the state and are staying together at the same location?
Black Friday?