"I'm not going to comment on that," explains Jesse Lewis Sr., head of Birmingham, AL, PR agency The Lewis Group. "No comment at all."

None at all? Would Lewis at least explain who hatched the plan to have his firm pay freelancer Audry Lewis (no relation) thousands of dollars to write positive stories about former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy for a local paper?

"Let me back up. What did I say?" Lewis helpfully clarifies. "That's plain and simple. We both speak English." ...