The Scruggs' request to have their testimony sealed was denied. So what's news? According to the AP:
UPDATE: A bit more on the matter here.
An insurance company's attorney suggested during a sworn deposition that former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott urged witnesses to give false information in a Hurricane Katrina lawsuit, according to court records.Hmmm.
The implication was made last week during a deposition with Lott's nephew, Zach Scruggs, who represented the former Mississippi Republican senator after his Pascagoula home was destroyed by the 2005 storm. Zach Scruggs is the son and law partner of disgraced former attorney Richard ''Dickie'' Scruggs, Lott's brother-in-law.
''Has it been your custom and habit in prosecuting litigation to have Senator Lott contact and encourage witnesses to give false information?'' State Farm Fire & Casualty Cos. attorney Jim Robie asked, according to a transcript of the deposition.
''I invoke my Fifth Amendment rights in response to that question,'' Zach Scruggs responded.
UPDATE: A bit more on the matter here.
Posts
July 31, 2008 1:06 PM
Hmmm. Do you think any reporter will ever ask him about it?
July 31, 2008 1:10 PM
Well, you know as well as I do that the chances are slim. Not to mention the fact that Trent's been keeping an uncharacteristically low profile ever since he retired to go into the lobbying business (which was, as I'm sure you'll remember, just days before the Scruggs indictment and only a year after he'd won re-election).
August 01, 2008 2:33 AM
At the time, people thought he was retiring early in order to become a lobbyist after a one year wait instead of the two year waiting period that was about to kick in.
But that would've been small potatoes sleazy. Trent was always bigger than that.
August 02, 2008 12:28 AM
Not to mention the rumors about him being gay.
August 02, 2008 6:59 AM
Yeah. So let's not mention them, okay?