Scruggs indicted, HRC fundraiser in question

Hillary Clinton is scheduled to have a fundraiser in Oxford, MS, on Dec. 15th at the home of plaintiffs attorney, Dickie Scruggs. Scruggs was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury into allegations that he attempted to bribe a judge. Scruggs is brother-in-law to Sen. Trent Lott who recently announced his forthcoming resignation.

From the report:

A federal grand jury in north Mississippi indicted Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, his son and law partner Zach Scruggs, two other lawyers and a former Mississippi auditor of conspiring to bribe state Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey with $40,000 in cash.

The 13-page indictment accuses the men of trying to bribe Lackey to rule in favor of Scruggs in a civil lawsuit, filed by other attorneys, that accused Scruggs of withholding fees for work on Katrina insurance litigation.

The indictment says Lackey, who sits in Mississippi's Third Circuit Court District, reported the "bribery overture" to federal authorities and agreed to assist investigators in an "undercover capacity."

. . .

The charges against Scruggs and the others include one count of defrauding the federal government and two counts of wire fraud.

. . .

Scruggs allegedly tried to cover up the alleged scheme by falsely creating documents that showed he hired Balducci to work on an unrelated case, when he was actually reimbursing him for the $40,000 cash bribes, the indictment alleges.

The indictment includes excerpts of telephone conversations between Balducci and the judge that were presumably recorded by federal authorities.

. . .

Balducci allegedly delivered $20,000 in cash to Lackey in his court chambers on Sept. 27, and gave him separate $10,000 payments on Oct. 18 and Nov. 1.

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007711290303

Oxford is the home of the Rebels (as in, those who rebelled from emancipation and de-segregation) of Ole Miss (as in "Old Mississippi"), the college of choice for many Old South Republicans.