FEP 43 Page 17 end of that discussion. P: Let me give you Bob Butterworth's interpretation of the same story. What he said was that he got a telephone call from the sheriff telling him that the canvassing board was not counting in accordance with the law, and apparently somebody else, a county commissioner, it was never quite clear who he was referring to, also had some problems. So, he did decide to call Judge Rouse, and then get through to you. What he said, and he pretty much said what you said, that you didn't want to talk to him and you thought he had a conflict of interest, so he did hang up the phone and walk away. What he also said, and I'll quote him, "I did not intend to pressure the judge, but to make sure that he followed the state law." Now my question to Butterworth, and to you, would be, why wouldn't he go to Clay Roberts, and have Clay Roberts call you, or why didn't he make the same phone call to others? There were eighteen other counties that re-tallied the results that didn't recount the votes. Why wouldn't he have made phone calls to the other eighteen counties? M: Did he tell you that he did not? P: He did not. M: Okay. P: He just called you. M: It was obvious to me he was trying to pressure me. See, people who know me realize when anybody tries to pressure me I tend to dig in my heels. That's exactly the wrong thing to try to do with me, is to put any kind of pressure on me. And, of course, I was about to retire, so what are they going to do to me? But, to me, it was an obvious attempt to put political pressure on me. Here's the Attorney General of the state of Florida calling me, but the point you make about Mr. Roberts is very well taken. Of course, Mr. Roberts is not with the attorney general's office. He was the Director of Elections under the secretary of state, a totally different [office]. P: And as you know, it was even on the Attorney General's website, the opinion of the secretary of state's office is binding, but his opinion is merely advisory. So he knew that, he knew that his opinion was advisory. Now, also I should say what he saw, and eventually the Florida Supreme Court will agree with his judgement by a close vote, that what should have taken place, according to his interpretation of the law, was that all the votes should have been recounted in the automatic recount. The secretary of state, of course, had a very different opinion on that. He said the reason he intervened, because as the chief law enforcement 17