Republican state legislators in Minnesota have strongly condemned Governor Tim Walz following the revelation that he allocated $430,000 of taxpayer funds to prepare for a congressional hearing in the House that is investigating the “sanctuary city” policies of blue state governors.
Invoices acquired by the Star Tribune indicate that Walz’s office engaged the well-known global law firm K&L Gates to aid in the preparations for his testimony scheduled for mid-June before the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee, which centered on inquiries regarding his and other blue state governors’ sanctuary city policies.
In the month of May alone, Walz accrued roughly $232,000 in legal expenses, with an average hourly charge of about $516, as per the invoices obtained by the Star Tribune.
The publication further disclosed that K&L Gates collaborated with Walz’s office from April 10 until the hearing on June 12, with the total legal preparation costing taxpayers $430,000.
Minnesota Representative Jim Nash, one of the two Republicans on the state’s Legislative Advisory Commission, questioned the rationale behind Walz’s decision to hire external legal counsel rather than utilizing the state’s attorneys and public relations professionals.
“Spending half a million dollars of taxpayer money to prepare the governor for a return to his former district seems excessive, especially considering that the Attorney General of Minnesota was in Congress alongside Walz at the same time, and they could have certainly coordinated to accomplish what was necessary,” he remarked.
Nash further stated his intention to investigate the invoices obtained by the Star Tribune more thoroughly.
Republican Minnesota state Representative Harry Niska remarked that there “seems to be no valid legal justification for the state incurring nearly half a million dollars in what essentially amounts to public relations consulting.”
“Tim Walz has dedicated 12 years to serving in Congress — he is well-acquainted with those hearing rooms, and he undoubtedly understands how to behave in such environments. Therefore, why did the governor deem it necessary to allocate $430,000 of taxpayer funds to a private firm for ‘preparation’ for this hearing?” Niska inquired.
“To clarify, it seems there is no valid legal justification for the state to incur nearly half a million dollars in what essentially amounts to public relations consulting as he attempts to establish a foundation for a presidential campaign that is clearly going nowhere,” Niska elaborated.
“It is utterly unacceptable to require diligent Minnesota taxpayers to finance the governor’s personal ambitions on a national scale.”
In response to the backlash regarding Walz’s choice to engage K&L Gates, the governor and his team refrained from offering a straightforward rationale. Instead, they shifted the focus onto Republicans, accusing them of orchestrating a hearing solely for the purpose of “grandstanding,” as reported by the Star Tribune.
Teddy Tschann, a spokesperson for Walz, described the hearing as a “premeditated political stunt at the expense of taxpayers,” according to the Star Tribune.
“They were too preoccupied with performing for the cameras to even pretend to be interested in hearing from Gov. Walz regarding Minnesota’s balanced stance on immigration,” Tschann remarked. “What is most exasperating is that Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber orchestrated this spectacle fully aware of the costs involved and proceeded regardless.”
When directly questioned about the substantial legal expenses, Walz stated that the GOP-led hearing was “not where I intended to allocate funds. It is not how I wished to invest my time, and it certainly demonstrated that there was nothing beyond using it for grandstanding.”
Although the considerable legal expenses have attracted criticism towards Walz this week, this is not the first instance of a governor or mayor expending hundreds of thousands on legal counsel.