If At First...

Dunn Lampton ran for the 4th Congressional District as a Republican in 1998 and again in 2000, winning the Republican primary only in the latter contest. In 2001 the Federal Election Commission levied a civil monetary penalty against the Dunn Lampton for Congress Campaign for failure to file campaign finance reports on time (FEC Record, September 2001).

Lampton never became a member of Congress. However, in September of 2001, while the FEC was penalizing his failed congressional campaign, "W," in his genius, appointed him US Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. Dunn Lampton, federal campaign law violator, was now in charge of prosecuting federal crimes with vast investigative resources and an unlimited war chest.

The Southern District covers more than half of the state and includes both the old 4th Congressional District and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This area was home to his doomed campaign, home to his former law firm and home to his relatives and their businesses. It was also home to Paul Minor and Oliver Diaz.

Minor, the son of (liberal) columnist Bill Minor and a major trial lawyer listed among big national plaintiff’s attorneys, soon became a target of Lampton’s considerable resources. There has been plenty of speculation as to why. Some opine that Minor’s father has long ruffled feathers and son Paul became an object of the same ire. Others point to the fact that Paul Minor had won a sizeable settlement against a business owned by a Lampton relative. And still others simply point to that fact that minor is a money player in many Democratic election campaigns across the state.

Lampton’s effort to target Justice Oliver E. Diaz, Jr. is confusing. Prior to his appointment, Diaz served as a Republican member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from the Gulf Coast for seven years before being elected to the Mississippi Court of Appeals and later appointed to fill a vacancy on the State Supreme Court. Perhaps the simple fact that Diaz was appointed to the Supreme Court by then-Governor Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat, was enough to make him a target. Or, to be fair, perhaps Diaz was purely fall-out from the bull’s eye being painted on Minor. Certainly it was known that Minor had provided campaign contributions and loans to Diaz and that was the foundation for the case against them.

That case, however, was weak. After the jury came back with “not guilty” verdicts on the combined Diaz-Minor charges (some charges against Minor that did not involve Diaz remain hung), Lampton himself said, “I knew there would be a problem on Diaz because he didn't vote on anything." Why? Because Diaz routinely recused himself from hearing cases in which Minor was the attorney, meaning none of the money exchanged was illegal and not even the intent for an illegal transaction was evident. Something that Dunn Lampton should have learned from the FEC ruling against him 4 years before.

Lampton can retry Minor on the charges returned without a verdict if he really wants to. But Diaz seemed to be cleared …until…

U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate unsealed a March 22 indictment against Diaz and his then-wife, Jennifer Diaz, that accuses the couple of filing a false tax return for the tax year 1999 and for two charges of tax evasion for disguising income as loan repayments through "inaccurate and misleading books." The indictment said the couple declared an income of $31,550 when it should have been $57,225.

Never one to give up, US Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, Dunn Lampton, said the tax indictment against Diaz was sealed "out of abundance and caution" to prevent potential jurors from being influenced (bet he wishes now that he could have influenced them just a bit more). So there will be another trial and a bill to be paid by the public that will certainly cost more than the taxes and penalties owed on the $25,675 in unfiled taxes – IF the claim is true.

“This has gone from prosecution to persecution," said Diaz's attorney.

“If at first you don’t succeed…,” says the US Attorney.