folo

This transcript is Ex. 36 in the defense motion to dismiss. It appears to be complete.

Balducci calls Patterson, who (apparently about to call him) says “Must have ESPN.” Patterson begins by saying: “One thing I wanted to tell you before I forget it, if, if you stop by, particularly since you’re stoppin’ by there to see Dickie, um, I mentioned very cryptically to P.L. one day last week that I have I had a pretty good problem that I had solved and I was gonna go head and solve it. What should I do And he said solve it and if you need help, let me know.”

This spectacularly echoes Balducci’s explanation about how Scruggs would learn of the bribery effort. Balducci regularly responds “Yep” throughout.

Balducci then responds, “Well, that’s exactly what I was gonna tell him today, is that I was just gonna tell him that I’ve taken care of somethin’ you and I had gotten handled and that I was gonna get you to talk to P.L. and let P.L. visit with him at some point.” [I can't tell who "him" is?]

Patterson: I’ve already done that, I mean, all I’ve, P.L. doesn’t know what it’s about or anything, he just, he does the amount, but..

Balducci: What’d you tell him?

Patterson: Forty.

Balducci: Ok, so you didn’t pad it?

Patterson: No, uh…

Balducci: Great job. Way to go.

Patterson: Yeah, I just told him the truth.

Patterson then said “do I got ahead and take care of it or what? And he said, yeah, go ahead and take care of it. I said, well, we’ve already taken care of half of it.” Balducci, having just left Lackey, said “I’ma just reinforce that this morning. I just stopped buy his office um, to pick up that thing that Sid [Backstrom] had gotten for me… ”

“I called to Bethie,” says Balducci, “and she said he’s gonna be there this morning, so I’m going to go back on my way through.” Balducci says that he’s leaving Oxford heading south. “So what I’ma do is I’ma come back through here, I’ma stop and see him. I’m gonna lead with this issue and then I’m gonna tell him I need you to make two calls and get him to make those two phone calls.” I think Balducci is saying that he’s going to start with the “problem” he’d solved and then ask Scruggs to make a couple of calls.

Patterson: Yeah. Uh, mention IUPE to him. And uh, see what his reaction is. I think it’ll be very positive.

I have no idea what this is about. People in another comment thread have noted that there is a Mississippi uniform company called IUPE.

Patterson and Balducci then talk about someone transcribed as “Z” who never called Ballducci back (he’s mad!), and the conversation shifts again to calling folks in Richmond, and that someone named Donald McKetchen is talking about the way a bill is being marked in the Senate and what the caps will be. This, Balducci says, is good news. They disagree over that and who has better intelligence.

Then Balducci says “I’ve been on the phone with Biden this mornin’, that would be Jim Biden. I’m not tryin’ to be like Joey.” The then make plans to leave “with Norman” from New Albany on Saturday morning “and we’re gonna get there” [not sure where] “around noon, and we’re gonna be with the Bidens around noon. Then we’re gonna meet the black farmers at three” and have dinner at Seven. Sunday, Balducci and Patterson may meet alone “with Stith.”

There is information about the black farmer issue here. Somewhere along the line I read that Patterson and Balducci were signing up clients for when the bill described in that story was passed.