The Fall of the House of Zeus (57 page)

16
The Reaganites …
Interview with Clarke Reed.

17
In 1982, Jim Lake …
Blake deposition.

18
In 1984, the U.S. Department of Agriculture …
“FmHA at Fault in
Blake Loan, Inspectors Say,” Mark Rohner and Dennis Camire, Gannett News Service,
Clarion-Ledger
, Sept. 15, 1984.

19
The news report …
“Pleading Poverty, He Makes Millions,” an article in Gannett News Service Special Report: “FmHA: The Golden Yoke,” December 1983.

20
According to court papers …
Schedule of Dewitt Corp. assets filed in tax returns, from documents in connection with
Blake v. Gannett
.

21
The grain was stored …
Interviews with confidential sources; “The
P. L. Blake empire …,”
Clarion-Ledger
; “The Billie Sol Estes Scandal,”
Time
, May 25, 1962.

22
Blake, in applying …
“The P. L. Blake empire …,”
Clarion-Ledger
.

23
(Perry was later fired …
“Cochran’s Record of USDA Jobs Patronage Less Than Stellar,” column by Bill Minor,
Clarion-Ledger
, Oct. 17, 2008.

24
Anderson, for his part …
“The P. L. Blake empire …,”
Clarion-Ledger
.

25
Outraged by the Gannett series …
Blake deposition.

26
In a decision …
Supreme Court of Mississippi ruling in
Blake v.
Gannett
, May 25, 1988.

27
Later in the decade …
Interview with Dick Scruggs.

28
After obtaining records …
“Patterson Linked to Farmer in Bank Case,” Associated Press, June 30, 1997.

29
Although Scruggs …
Interviews with Mike Moore, Diane Scruggs.

30
Nevertheless, both Patterson and Blake …
Interview with Joey Langston.

31
Blake also retained …
“Blake Still Enigma,” William Browning,
Greenwood Commonwealth
, Feb. 26, 2009.

32
When … Tom Anderson …
Washington Times
, Oct. 3, 1989.

33
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee …
Associated Press, Oct. 16, 1989.

34
According to Blake’s testimony …
Blake deposition.

35
In November 1993 …
Interview with Dick Scruggs.

1
The asbestos industry …
Civil Warriors: The Legal Siege on the
Tobacco Industry
, Dan Zegart (Delacorte Press, 2000); “Orey,
Assuming the Risk
.”

2
He began to acquire …
Interviews with confidential sources.

3
While lavishing millions …
Interviews with confidential sources;
letters in support of Dick Scruggs, filed in 2008 in U.S. District Court in
connection with
U.S.A. v. Scruggs
.

4
Scruggs and Wilson …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Diane Scruggs, confidential sources.

5
After Wilson threatened …
Letter from Dick Scruggs to Roberts
Wilson, Feb. 17, 1992.

6
The contentions …
Boston Globe
, Oct. 18, 1998.

7
Though it seemed relatively insignificant …
Interview with Charles Merkel.

8
The lawsuits got uglier …
Affidavit of Mitchell Tyner, filed in Hinds County Circuit Court in connection with
Luckey v. Wilson, Scruggs, and
Asbestos Group
, Dec. 8, 1996.

9
He followed developments …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Don
Barrett; Orey,
Assuming the Risk
.

10
The mother of Lewis’s secretary …
Interviews with Mike and Pauline Lewis, Mike Moore, Dick Scruggs; Orey,
Assuming the Risk
.

11
A few months later …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Mike Moore, Danny Cupit, Crymes Pittman.

12
In casting about …
Interviews with Mike Moore, Dick Scruggs, Crymes Pittman, Don Barrett, confidential sources.

13
Despite his misgivings …
Interview with Mike Moore.

14
As they plotted …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Don Barrett, Mike Moore.

15
Scruggs reflected …
Interview with Dick Scruggs.

16
While men such as Blake …
Interview with Pete Johnson.

17
Johnson was not a registered lobbyist …
Interviews with Johnson,
confidential sources; Mississippi 1994 Session Laws, Senate bill 2503:
Medicaid—General Revision.

18
Later in the decade …
Orey,
Assuming the Risk
.

1
For much of his life …
Interviews with Dick Scruggs, Don Barrett; Orey,
Assuming the Risk
.

2
The same spring …
Interview with Mike Moore.

3
For Mississippi …
Interviews with Scruggs, Barrett, Moore;
confidential sources; details of joint venture agreement for HALT, signed
autumn 1994; deposition given by Scruggs on Aug. 25, 2004, in connection with
Wilson v. Scruggs
.

4
As Mississippi’s case …
Orey,
Assuming the Risk
; interview with Scruggs; deposition given by Scruggs, Aug. 25, 2004.

5
(A few years …
Interview with Scruggs;
The Insider
, a film directed by Michael Mann, 1999.

6
In the fall …
Interview with Scruggs.

7
The tobacco issue …
Herding Cats: A Life in Politics
, Trent Lott
(ReganBooks, 2005).

8
The process …
Interviews with confidential sources.

9
After Liggett …
Interview with Scruggs, confidential sources; Orey,
Assuming the Risk
; Lott,
Herding Cats.

10
After seventeen years …
Wilkie, “Secret History”; interviews with
confidential sources.

11
Though both Anderson and Sears …
Interviews with confidential sources; letter from John P. Sears to Richard Scruggs, Jan. 12, 2000.

12
Hoppenstein’s curriculum vitae …
Joel Hoppenstein biography posted by Jewish Policy Center.

13
There was never …
Interviews with Scruggs, confidential sources.

14
Before the struggle …
Deposition given by Scruggs, Aug. 25, 2004.

15
At the same time …
Lott,
Herding Cats
.

16
The deal was set back …
“Plan to Settle Tobacco Case Draws Fire,” Milo Geyelin, Suein L. Hwang, and Alix M. Freedman,
Wall Street Journal
, Aug. 27, 1996.

17
Scruggs felt betrayed …
Interview with Scruggs.

18
On June 20 …
“The Tobacco Settlement—Elements of the Deal: Pros and Cons,”
New York Times
, June 21, 1997.

19
For the next twenty-five years …
HALT documents.

20
Looking back …
Interview with Scruggs.

21
Less than two months …
“Plaintiff in Tobacco Suit Targets a New
Adversary: Her Lawyer,” by Milo Geyelin,
Wall Street Journal
, Aug. 19, 1997; interview with Scruggs, Joey Langston, confidential sources.

22
Diane Scruggs …
Interview with Diane Scruggs.

23
While various claimants …
Interview with Mike and Pauline Lewis.

24
There were other …
Interviews with Scruggs, Pete Johnson,
confidential sources.

25
There were others …
“Tobacco Wars’ Huge Legal Fees Ignite New Fight,” Myron Levin,
Los Angeles Times
, May 20, 2001; interview with Scruggs; flow chart of payments by Delmas Capital, LLC.

26
A particularly nasty …
Interview with Scruggs, letter from Scruggs to John P. Sears, Developing Markets Group LLC, Jan. 13, 2000.

27
Nevertheless, according to court documents …
Deposition given by Scruggs, Aug. 25, 2004; testimony of Scruggs in trial transcript,
Alwyn H. Luckey v. Richard Scruggs
, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, June 8, 2005; interviews with Scruggs, confidential sources.

28
Charles Merkel …
Interview with Merkel.

29
But U.S. District Judge …
Injunction ordered by U.S. District
Judge Allen Pepper in Northern District of Mississippi in connection with
P. L. Blake and Shirley Blake v. State Bank and Trust Co. of Greenwood,
Mississippi
, Jan. 3, 2005.

30
Back at Ole Miss …
Wilkie, “Secret History.”

31
Scruggs attributed …
Interview with Scruggs.

32
When Scruggs was asked …
Deposition given by Scruggs, Aug. 25, 2004.

33
Blake’s explanations …
Deposition given by P. L. Blake in connection with
Wilson v. Scruggs
, August 2004; “Blake’s Information ‘Right-on,’ ” Anita Lee,
Sun Herald
, Dec. 17, 2007; interview with Scruggs.

34
While Blake got …
Deposition given by Scruggs, Aug. 25, 2004.
Interviews with confidential sources.

35
In addition …
Deposition given by Scruggs, Aug. 25, 2004. Interviews with confidential sources.

36
The New Yorker … “Fight on the Right,” Philip Gourevitch,
The New Yorker
, April 12, 2004.

37
Scruggs’s contribution …
Interview with Scruggs.

38
After Michael Kranish …
“Special Interests Aided Tax-reform
Advocate,” Michael Kranish,
Boston Globe
, March 31, 2006.

39
Later, after Scruggs …
Interview with Scruggs.

40
In 2000 the bickering …
Letter from John P. Sears to Scruggs, Jan. 12, 2000.

41
He told Sears …
Letter from Scruggs to Sears, Jan. 13, 2000.

42
Sears wrote back …
Letter from Sears to Scruggs, Jan. 24, 2000.

43
In a subsequent letter …
Letter from Sears to Scruggs, Jan. 25, 2000.

44
Scruggs finally came …
Interviews with confidential sources; flow chart of Delmas Capital, LLC; deposition given by Scruggs, Aug. 25, 2000.

45
In addition …
Interview with Rex Deloach.

46
On a schedule …
Flow chart of Delmas Capital, LLC; interviews with Deloach, confidential sources.

47
At night …
Interview with Scruggs, Sept., 1998;
Boston Globe
, Oct. 18, 1998.

1
Politics had been embedded …
Interview with Dick Scruggs.

2
To protect their position …
Interview with Danny Cupit.

3
The idea took form …
Interview with Jere Nash.

4
A lengthy 1999 profile …
“Who’s Afraid of Dickie Scruggs?,” Adam Bryant,
Newsweek
, Dec. 6, 1999.

5
To extend his influence …
Interviews with Scruggs, confidential sources.

6
The logical choice …
“Ferris Displayed Amazing Public Education
Credentials,” column by Bill Minor,
Clarion-Ledger
, June 27, 2008.

7
But Scruggs’s “dark side” …
Interview with Scruggs; “Tuck’s Amended Report Discloses Loan from Scruggs,” Bobby Harrison, Northeast Mississippi
Daily Journal
, July 9, 2003.

8
Abuses also ran rampant …
Interviews with confidential sources.

9
Business interests …
“Jackson Action,” op-ed piece by Charlie Ross,
Wall
Street Journal
, Sept. 15, 2005; bulletins by American Tort Reform Association; “Mississippi Tort Reform in 2004,” memorandum prepared by Wells Marble and Hurst PPL.

10
After market research …
“New Names, New Strategies,” Terry Carter,
ABA Journal
, Feb. 21, 2007.

11
One judge …
Interview with confidential source.

12
Scruggs threw his own money …
Interviews with Scruggs, Richard
Phillips.

13
A Jackson attorney …
“Court Is Ignoring Juries: Victims Losing 100 Percent of Appeals? Is the Mississippi Supreme Court a ‘rubber stamp’ for powerful corporate entities?,” op-ed piece by Alex A. Alston, Jr.,
Clarion-Ledger
, June 29, 2008.

14
With Big Business …
The Appeal
, John Grisham (Doubleday, 2008).

15
In 2000 …
Interview with Scruggs.

1
Their choice …
Transcript of grand jury testimony by Richard Scruggs, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, May 16, 2003.

2
Minor was often …
Interviews with confidential sources.

3
After their meeting …
Scruggs’s testimony before grand jury.

4
As GOP theoretician …
Politics by Other Means
, Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter (W.W. Norton, 1999).

5
In a move approved …
“A Minor Injustice,” “Why Paul Minor?” and “Justice in Mississippi,” articles by Scott Horton,
Harper’s
, Autumn 2007; “The U.S. Attorney Who Wasn’t Fired: How Bush Pick Helped Prosecute Top
Democrat-backed Judge,” Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane,
The Raw Story
, April 1, 2008; “The United States Attorneys Scandal Comes to Mississippi,” signed editorial by Adam Cohen,
New York Times
, Oct. 11, 2007;
“Congress Probes Witch Hunts,” Adam Lynch,
Jackson Free Press
, May 28, 2008; appeal filed by Paul Minor in connection with
U.S.A. v. Minor
, U.S. District Court, June 30, 2008.