Republican state lawmakers in Minnesota have sharply criticized Governor Tim Walz after it was revealed he spent $430,000 of taxpayer money preparing for a House congressional hearing investigating blue state governors’ “sanctuary city” policies.
Invoices obtained by the Star Tribune show that Walz’s office hired the prominent global law firm K&L Gates to assist with preparations for his mid-June testimony before the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee, which focused on questions about his and other blue state governors’ sanctuary city policies.
In May alone, Walz incurred approximately $232,000 in legal fees, with an average hourly rate of about $516, according to the invoices obtained by the Star Tribune.
The outlet further reported that K&L Gates worked with Walz’s office from April 10 through the June 12 hearing, with the legal preparation costing taxpayers a total of $430,000.
Minnesota Rep. Jim Nash, one of two Republicans on the state’s Legislative Advisory Commission, questioned why Walz chose to hire outside counsel instead of relying on the state’s attorneys and public relations experts.
“A half a million dollars of taxpayer money to prepare the governor to go to his old stomping grounds seems exorbitant, particularly since the AG for the state of Minnesota was in Congress with Walz at the same time, and the two of them certainly could have figured out how to do what they were needing to do,” he said.
Nash added that he intends to dig deeper into the invoices obtained by the Star Tribune.
Republican Minnesota state Rep. Harry Niska added there “appears to be no legitimate legal interest in the state racking up nearly half-a-million dollars in what amounts to PR consulting.”
“Tim Walz spent 12 years in Congress — he knows those hearing rooms inside and out, and he certainly knows how to conduct himself in that type of setting. So, why did the governor feel the need to spend $430,000 of taxpayer money on a private firm to ‘prepare’ for this hearing?” Niska asked.
“To be clear, there appears to be no legitimate legal interest of the state in racking up nearly half a million dollars in what amounts to PR consulting as he tries to lay the groundwork for a presidential campaign that’s going absolutely nowhere,” Niska continued.
“It is unconscionable to make hardworking Minnesota taxpayers pay for the governor’s personal national political aspirations.”
In response to criticism over Walz’s decision to contract with K&L Gates, the governor and his team avoided providing a direct explanation. Instead, they placed the blame on Republicans, accusing them of holding a hearing aimed solely at “grandstanding,” according to the Star Tribune.
Teddy Tschann, a Walz spokesperson, characterized the hearing as a “planned political stunt on the taxpayer dime,” the Star Tribune reported.
“They were too busy performing for the cameras to even feign interest in hearing from Gov. Walz about Minnesota’s balanced approach to immigration,” Tschann added. “What’s most frustrating is that Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber planned this spectacle knowing what it would cost and went through with it anyway.”
When asked directly about the massive legal bill, Walz responded that the GOP-led hearing was “not where I wanted to spend money. It’s not where I wanted to spend my time, and it certainly proved that there was nothing there other than using it as grandstanding.”
While the sizable legal bill has drawn criticism for Walz this week, it’s not the first time a governor or mayor has spent hundreds of thousands on legal advice. Earlier this year, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she anticipated paying around $650,000 to the law firm that assisted her in preparing for a hearing in Washington, D.C.
Similarly, the City of Denver paid $250,000 for outside legal counsel earlier this year to prepare Mayor Mike Johnston for a congressional hearing, Fox News reported.
