Did U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter of Weare weep and consider resigning after being on the losing side of the historic 2000 split decision that ended the Florida recount and effectively installed George W. Bush as President?

Souter's close friend, former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman, calls that assertion in a new book by a well-known legal expert "absolutely false."

A blog on the examiner.com Web site yesterday previewed prominent attorney and CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin's new book, "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court."

Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin wrote in their "Yeas & Nays" blog that according to the Toobin book, "Justice David Souter nearly resigned in the wake of 'Bush v. Gore,' so distraught was he over the decision."

Souter, after being a key questioner from the bench during the hearing, was among the dissenters in the 5-4 decision issued in December 2000.

►Read Souter's dissenting opinion in Bush v. Gore

Dufour and Gavin report that in the book, which goes on sale on Sept. 18, Toobin writes that "while the other justices tried to put the case behind them, 'David Souter alone was shattered,' at times weeping when he thought of the case."

They quote the Toobin book as saying that for several months, "it was not clear whether he would remain as justice. That the Court met in a city he loathed made the decision even harder. At the urging of a handful of close friends, he decided to stay on, but his attitude toward the court was never the same."

"That's absolutely false," an obviously irritated Rudman told the New Hampshire Union Leader yesterday. "It's one of the great works of fiction - that book should win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction."

Rudman said that "no one" knows more about how Souter felt about the decision - and how Souter felt in its aftermath - than he does.

"It's no secret that (Souter) wasn't pleased, but to say he was weeping and crying is well - I won't use the word in the newspaper," said Rudman.

According to the CNN Web site, Toobin has written several "critically acclaimed, best-selling books," including "A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal that Nearly Brought Down a President," "The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson," and "Too Close to Call: The 36-Day Battle to Decide the 2000 Election." He is also a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine.

"Nobody is closer to David Souter than I am and that story is false," said Rudman, who refused to say if he knew whether Souter was aware of the book's passage or the Web report on it.

While the book reportedly alleges that "a handful of close friends" urged Souter not to resign, Rudman said the author "never talked to me. You'd think he would have called me.

"It was a 5-4 decision," Rudman continued, "and David dissented strongly, but he got over it."

Rudman said he speaks with Souter often, and even now, 17 years after being appointed, Souter "loves being on the Supreme Court. He has found his calling in life.

"He does not like living in Washington. Nor do I," said Rudman. "But I've never discussed his future plans with him and anyone who claims they have is lying. If he discussed (leaving the court), I'd know about it."

According to the blog, Toobin's book also tells a story in which Souter played along with a stranger who mistook him for Justice Stephen Breyer. When the stranger asked the judge to name the best thing about being on the court, Souter reportedly replied:

"Well, I'd have to say it's the privilege of serving with David Souter."

"That story happens to be true," Rudman said. "It's been printed before. That's David's witty, dry sense of humor."

Rudman, who represented New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate from 1980 to 1993, has been a longtime friend of Souter and was Souter's chief sponsor in his U.S. Senate confirmation hearings in 1990.

Souter succeeded Rudman as New Hampshire attorney general in 1976 after the two had served together in that office for several years.

Attorney Tom Rath, another close friend of Souter, yesterday would not discuss the matter.

"I just don't talk about David publicly," Rath said.