The Fall of the House of Zeus by Curtis Wilkie (Crown, October 19, 2010)

“When Hood refused to drop his investigation, Scruggs grew apoplectic. In a move later characterized by his friends as an ‘afternoon decision’ driven by a large dose of his painkilling medication, Scruggs offered to pay $500,000 to Steve Patterson and Tim Balducci to get the attorney general on board . . . Sure enough, Patterson and Balducci were able to arrange one inconsequential dinner, which Hood grudgingly agreed to attend . . . They got nowhere with him.” (page 168)

“In January of 2007, Patterson warned Cupit that Scruggs was prepared to deliver an ultimatum to the attorney general. Unless Hood agreed to assure State Farm that there would be no indictments, Scruggs would fall back on a plan conceived by his public relations team. There would be a press conference, attended by several high-ranking public officials–including Senator Lott, who had sued State Farm himself–to endorse a settlement benefiting hundreds of Gulf Coast residents. The group would announce that only Hood stood in the way. The publicity could kill Hood’s reelection chances.” (page 170)

“The scenario was the subject of a heated discussion in a private room at the Jackson airport in January 2007, involving Hood, Scruggs, Patterson, and Joey Langston.” (page 170)

“Two days later . . . Hood drove to Memphis . . . to meet with high officials of State Farm . . . During his Memphis talks, Hood first reached a settlement with State Farm on the state’s civil case. The company agreed to pay $5 million to the attorney general’s office as reimbursement for its expenses in the investigation and to set up an apparatus to deal with the unresolved claims that could cost the company as much as $400 million.” (page 170)

“Before he left the Tennessee city, Hood also informed State Farm that he would discontinue the criminal case. This cleared the way for the final settlement of the 640 cases represented by the Scruggs Katrina Group . . . ” (page 170)

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Curtis Wilkie will be signing at Lemuria on Thursday, Oct. 21st.

Click here to see other excerpts from The Fall of the House of Zeus.

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