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[End of side Al]

P: Discuss the phone call you got from Bob Butterworth, attorney general.

M: Well, first I got a phone call, and I suppose this was in the afternoon of
 Wednesday, [November] 8, because it was still daylight, I can still picture that.
 Somebody said, Judge McDermott, Judge Rouse is on the line. Judge Rouse
 was then the chief judge. So, I went back into some office and I picked it up and
 I said, hi Robby, what's on your mind? He said, Mike, I've gotten a phone call
 from the Attorney General. I said, what's the Attorney General have to do with
 this? But then I thought, well, he's the chief law enforcement officer in the state,
 and there was an allegation that ballots might have been taken, which would be a
 crime. I said, so, what's he want? He said, he wants to talk to you. I said, about
 what? He said, well, I'm not sure. I said, okay, so then he hung up. Then maybe
 ten minutes later it was Judge Rouse again, but there was also Mr. Butterworth
 on the line, so it was a conference call. I was in DeLand, Judge Rouse was in
 Daytona Beach, and Mr. Butterworth was in his office in Tallahassee.

 Very quickly Mr. Butterworth starts talking to me about his contention that the law
 requires a full manual recount of all ballots for president of the United States. I
 had read the statute and I did not read the statute that way. He talked for no
 more than a minute and a half and I interrupted him. I said, Mr. Butterworth, in
 what capacity are you making this call? He said, as attorney general of Florida. I
 said, well, my understanding is that you are also the state campaign manager for
 Mr. Gore. [He said], oh yes, that's true, but I mean the election's over now. I
 said, Mr. Butterworth, with all due respect, I believe that you have a conflict of
 interest. He got very huffy. He said, well, if you want me to leave, I'll just leave
 the room and I'll let you talk with one of my associates. Before I could say
 anything he put the phone down, and whatever room he was talking from did not
 have carpeting because I could clearly hear his footsteps as he's walking toward
 the door, [and] then I heard the door slam. Then somebody else comes on, a
 man, a deputy attorney general I'm assuming, and he starts saying the same
 thing to me, our contention is the statute requires a complete manual recount. I
 interrupted him and I said, listen, I can read the statute. The board will make its
 decision based on our reading of the statute, and we do not need any further
 advice from Tallahassee, thank you and goodbye. Now Judge Rouse is still on
 the line, and by this time it was obvious that I was irritated. I said, Robby, I do
 not want any more phone calls from Tallahassee telling me what I have to do or
 what I don't have to do. I said, I can read the statute, and we've got the county
 attorney here, and I'm sure we'll have plenty of attorneys from each party to help
 us in analyzing the statute. I don't want any more of this. He said, Mike, I
 understand, and I assure you there won't be. So, he hung up and that was the
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