Could This Be The True Reason Trent Lott Resigned From The Senate?

After fighitng his way back from the Strom Thurmond controversy, Mississippi Senator Trent Lott suddenly and inexplicably resigned from the Senate at the end of last year.   It seemed odd that he would do so, especially after weathering the Thurmond storm.  

Now, Lott is being accused of urging witnesses to give false information in a Hurricane Katrina lawsuit. Jim Robie, an attorney for State Farm Insurance, is accusing Lott’s brother-in-law, attorney Richard Scruggs, of being part of a scheme claiming that State Farm improperly handled Huricane Katrina claims and then tried covering it up.

State Farm, according to its attorney Jim Robie, wants to know the former Mississippi senator’s involvement, including whether he urged witnesses to give false information.

Robie implicated Lott during a deposition last week with convicted attorney Zach Scruggs, Richard’s son. Both Richard and Zach are headed to federal prison after pleading guilty to charges related to trying to bribe a judge in a different case.

Zach Scruggs, also represented Lott’s claim against State Farm after his Mississippi home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

 Robie is saying that Lott initiated contact with people involved in the case, which would be unprecedented for a US senator.

“Clearly, the record couldn’t be more plain that Sen. Lott and his associates were talking to people that were key advisers to Mr. Scruggs, paid consultants and those who were creating an illusion that simply doesn’t have any basic fact,” Robie told Legal Newsline on Thursday.

Think Progress has a New Yorker quote further implicating Lott:

Charles Chamness, the C.E.O. of a national insurance trade association, has claimed that Lott had threatened him, in a telephone call, with “bringing down State Farm and the industry.” Lott also co-sponsored a proposal to strip the insurance industry of an antitrust exemption that had been in place since the nineteen-forties.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.