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MS: Witness says Scruggs Paid Bagman; $50 Million goes to Mystery Man (Video)
Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 February 2008 12:59 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 27 February 2008 10:26
Just when you think this thing can’t get any more sensational – ooops it does. Now we get to read about a politically connected son of the delta who gets paid $50 million to watch C-Span and use his scissors to cut out newspaper articles, to a former statewide elected official getting $500,000 to dissuade Democrat A.G. Jim Hood from indicting State Farm so Scruggs and Company can go forward with their effort to capture $26,000,000 in legal fees. This case has lots of facts swirling around, and one casualty is going to be Jim Hood – no matter how you slice it – his political goose is cooked. We don’t think the impact of all of this stops at the Mississippi line. Remember – Scruggs and Langston spent some money outside of Mississippi that will affect officials in other states.
A mystery man receiving $50 million from prominent Mississippi attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs earned the money by paying off allies during Scruggs’ epic battle with the tobacco industry in the late 1990s, said a former colleague turned government witness.As state attorney general during that time, Mike Moore mustered the legal troops Scruggs helped lead into battle, wresting unprecedented settlements from the tobacco industry that earned Scruggs’ firm almost $1 billion in legal fees. The war involved lobbying at the state and federal levels and years of negotiations with tobacco company representatives.
Meanwhile, Hood is denying Scruggs’ influence…
Check out the local TV news story that ran on last nights 10pm news cast.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | 1 Comment
MS: Dem AG Hood is Holding On To State Farm Settlement Money
Last Updated on Friday, 22 February 2008 04:21 Written by rslcpol Friday, 22 February 2008 12:36
Now this is quite a pickle for Democrat A.G. Jim Hood. He owes the Boys and Girls Clubs of Mississippi $800,000, and $200,000 to the Cal Ripken Foundation, and is holding out on the pledge he made to these kids. $1 million for kids programs is a lot of money – no matter what part of the country you’re in. What makes this story even MORE interesting is that the Director for the Rural Boys and Girls Club in Mississippi mentioned in the article, Morgan Shands, managed Jim Hood’s first race for AG in 2003 – and then went on to serve as a special assistant attorney general.
Given all that Jim Hood’s been through over the past several months, and now with something seemingly little like this, you’ve got to wonder if Jim Hood realizes he might be the frog in the ever warming pot of water. If he keeps getting press hits like this ON TOP OF the stuff from Scruggs, Langston, DAGA and the rest, his pot of water may be boiling before he has any idea what’s going on and it’s too late to get on out.
UPDATE: Kudos to the alert SNS reader who drew the connection between former Mississippi Democrat AG Mike Moore and the Ripken Foundation.
Rural Boys and Girls Clubs could be in dire straights unless Attorney General Jim Hood turns over money pledged from a settlement with State Farm insurance companies.The Boys and Girls Clubs Alliance of Mississippi is expecting $800,000 of a $5 million settlement State Farm paid Hood’s office in exchange for his agreement to end an investigation of the company. Hood has said he planned to cover the cost of the criminal investigation, then turn over the rest of the money to the state’s general fund.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | 1 Comment
MS: Yet Another Story On Dem AG Hood’s Contributions
Last Updated on Thursday, 21 February 2008 10:35 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 21 February 2008 02:19
The high ground can be slippery place sometimes.
Hood’s written newspaper columns complaining about “pundits” and “bloggers” generating criticism of his office and suggested that those critics want to “do them harm” – them being “Mississippi’s families.He’s granted TV and newspaper interviews in which he dismissed suggestions that he return campaign funds donated by at least three sources who have already entered plea bargains in a federal judicial bribery probe. He suggested that it was unfair for him to be asked to return the donations because Republicans had taken political action committee donations and that: “There’s a danger in our politics, when people, corporations are able to buy offices that belong to the people.”Attorney General Jim Hood has gone to great lengths in recent days to quell what he sees as a barrage of criticism from the media and from bloggers.
But in the same breath, Hood draws a distinction between PAC donations from “big corporations” and the $400,000 in legal campaign contributions he received from the Democratic Attorneys General Association’s PAC – which is the same amount donated by Oxford attorney Dickie Scruggs and Booneville attorney Joey Langston.
Posted under Attorney General News | 1 Comment
MS: Dem AG Hood Says the Feds are doing a ‘Fine Job’ Investigating his Friend
Last Updated on Thursday, 21 February 2008 02:09 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 21 February 2008 02:09
Hood says if he had wiretapping authority, it would be easier to prosecute judicial bribery cases. Ironically, he’s been fielding questions all week about why he won’t seek charges in a judicial bribery case. Trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs has been indicted on allegations he bribed a judge. Attorney Joey Langston has pleaded guilty to bribing a judge. Both Scruggs and Langston contributed to Hood’s campaign through a Political Action Committee.
General Hood told us last week that pursuing charges against the two would give the impression of impropriety. If there’s a conflict of interest, we asked Hood Wednesday, why won’t he hire independent counsel to handle the matter?
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
Editorial – Dem AG Hood’s ‘Appearance of Inpropierty’ Ship has Sailed
Last Updated on Wednesday, 20 February 2008 12:18 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 20 February 2008 11:36
This chapter of Jim Hood’s career may have achieved critical mass. He may soon be viewed with other former Democrat Attorneys General like Peg Lautenschlager (Pleads guilty to drunk driving), Charles Foti (Katrina Cases’ Backlash Hurts LA AG), and Paul Morrison (Sexual harassment and undue influence). Stay tuned.
He’s granted TV and newspaper interviews in which he dismissed suggestions that he return campaign funds donated by at least three sources who have already entered plea bargains in a federal judicial bribery probe. He suggested that it was unfair for him to be asked to return the donations because Republicans had taken political action committee donations and that: “There’s a danger in our politics, when people, corporations are able to buy offices that belong to the people.”That reference came after Hood railed about “big corporations” circumventing Mississippi laws prohibiting campaign contributions over $1,000 by making legal PAC donations exceeding that amount – which is true. But in the same breath, Hood draws a distinction between PAC donations from “big corporations” and the $400,000 in legal campaign contributions he received from the Democratic Attorneys General Association’s PAC – which is the same amount donated by Oxford attorney Dickie Scruggs and Booneville attorney Joey Langston.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | No Comments
MS: Hood Responds To Receiving DAGA Funds
Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 February 2008 03:08 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 19 February 2008 11:58
Want to see the video of Jim Hood’s interview with WLBT – click here. This is not a good news day for Mr. Hood – this is the second time this story has gotten credible attention from the main stream press. This little story out of quaint Jackson is going to be on the national news soon – and names like Andrew Cuomo, Buddy Caldwell, Jerry Brown, Dustin McDaniel, and Jack Conway (to name a few) will be all over the story.
In our 3 on Your Side investigation, we revealed $400,000 donated by indicted trial lawyers Dickie Scruggs and Joey Langston last September to the Democratic Attorneys General Association — a PAC. That political action group sent $550,000 to help Jim Hood win re-election in 2007.Hood says our report was unfair. “Had I known they were going to have these legal problems, I certainly would not have accepted anything directly, any direct contribution. We never told them to give any money there, and secondly, the Democratic Attorneys General are my colleagues.”
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | 3 Comments
MS: Dem AG Hood Now Fears Conflict in Bribery Case
Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 February 2008 03:05 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 19 February 2008 11:39
Another story, in a different publication reporting the Hood/DAGA/Scruggs/Langston Nexis. What’s really interesting about this is Hood is fighting for his political life here. He’s taken to blaming everybody but the parties responsible for everything that’s going on. Heck, he’s even blaming a vast right wing conspiracy led by members of the Mississippi press corps. Click on the last link and check out the chatter that this story is generating on just one website.
If a case is brought by the state against attorneys involved in the recent judicial bribery scandal, it should be a district attorney that does it, Attorney General Jim Hood told The Clarion-Ledger editorial board Monday.
His friendships forged with some of the troubled lawyers through years of working together on cases and their financial support on the campaign trail have created the “appearance of impropriety,” he said.”The average guy is going to say, ‘If he’s that close to somebody, he doesn’t need to be prosecuting the case,'” he said. “It would be like prosecuting relatives.”
Posted under Attorney General News | No Comments
MS: AG Hood Says State Farm Suit Dismissed; State Farm Says Not So Fast
Last Updated on Thursday, 7 February 2008 10:46 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 7 February 2008 10:27
Hood’s premature dismissal comments are one thing, but the other issue is the fact that the main stream media has now written about Dickie Scruggs significant financial support of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, and their turn to support Jim Hood. This is something that is now out in the open, given further credibility by the press, and more fair game in this story. This is not the first time we’ve written about the cash flowing back and forth, check here and here, and we’re pretty certain it won’t be the last time members of the press – both in Mississippi and eventually national – write about it either.
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says he has resolved his dispute with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. that resulted in a lawsuit accusing Hood of violating the terms of a settlement agreement over the insurer’s handling of Hurricane Katrina claims.“The case has been dismissed, that’s all I can say,” Hood told The Associated Press Wednesday.
A State Farm spokesman called Hood’s announcement “premature,” but said company officials were pleased with developments in a hearing earlier in the day.
Posted under Attorney General News | 1 Comment
MS: Dem AG Hood Calls State Farm Lawsuit ‘Lies, Speculation, Innuendo’
Last Updated on Friday, 7 March 2008 01:25 Written by rslcpol Monday, 4 February 2008 12:01
Our question here is, and we’re quite serious, when does 60 Minutes get involved in this story? It’ll probably never be on the cover of a Time, or Newsweek. Eventually the Gray Lady herself might even write a feature of all of this. Not just Hood and State Farm, but Scruggs, Langston, and others. Maybe they’re waiting for the unraveling to be complete.
A lawsuit filed by State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. that accuses Attorney General Jim Hood of using the threat of criminal charges to force settlements in civil lawsuits is based on “lies, speculation, and innuendo,” Hood said in court papers.
State Farm sued Hood in September, claiming he violated his part of a January 2007 settlement in which the attorney general’s office agreed to end its criminal investigation over the company’s handling of Hurricane Katrina claims. A judge ordered Hood to temporarily shut down the probe.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | No Comments
Scruggs and Co: A recent giving history
Last Updated on Friday, 1 February 2008 03:47 Written by rslcpol Friday, 1 February 2008 03:47
“Super” trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs apparently loves to give to political causes. So does “not quite as super, but still really generous” trial lawyer Joey Langston. In recent reports just made public it’s been revealed that Mr. Scruggs’s law firm, The Scruggs Law Firm, gave a grand total of $300,000 to the Democratic Attorneys General Association to close out 2007, or DAGA for the insiders (we’ve written about DAGA here and here if you want to get up to speed, but in short DAGA is a Democrat political committee that recruits and elects Democrat candidate for attorney general – some like this guy). Mr Langston, a fine friend of Mr. Scruggs we’re sure, gave $100,000 of his hard earned lawyer dollars to DAGA as well.
Posted under Attorney General News, Blog | 2 Comments