[okie01]

How Mr. Scruggs was intending to help Judge DeLaughter isn't clear, but it has escaped no one that Mr. Scruggs's brother-in-law is Senator Trent Lott.

Is anybody surprised by this?

Lott's sudden resignation immediately preceded the charges against brother-in-law Dickie.

And a pol like Trent Lott isn't going to walk away from the gravy train unless he's got a very good reason...

[SuziQ]

I don't think Trent's resignation had much to do with the Scrugg's case. Trent wasn't a party to any of the lawsuits, and isn't a member of the Scrugg's law firm.

I think Trent realized he needed to get out and make some money. He lost his home in the hurricane, and that was a large part of his net worth. He's going into business with John Breaux, and after next year, he'll be able to do some lobbying. If he'd waited until 2008 to retire, he'd have had to wait two years before doing any lobbying.