{"id":37276,"date":"2016-05-11T10:10:46","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T14:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/how-much-will-pat-mccrorys-indefensible-hb2-lawsuit-cost-taxpayers\/"},"modified":"2016-05-11T10:10:46","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T14:10:46","slug":"how-much-will-pat-mccrorys-indefensible-hb2-lawsuit-cost-taxpayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/how-much-will-pat-mccrorys-indefensible-hb2-lawsuit-cost-taxpayers\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Will Pat McCrory\u2019s Indefensible HB2 Lawsuit Cost Taxpayers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Much Will Pat McCrory\u2019s Indefensible HB2 Lawsuit Cost Taxpayers?<\/b>
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Buried in Pat McCrory’s lawsuit fighting federal civil rights laws were a few other details of interest — the names of the private attorneys he has hired to defend HB2.<\/p>\n

WRAL reported in January<\/a><\/span> that McCrory and his fellow Republicans in the General Assembly have spent lavishly on private attorneys in recent years. “Since Republicans took the helm of the North Carolina legislature in 2011, financial data show state lawmakers have racked up almost $7 million in legal bills through October 2015. Gov. Pat McCrory shelled out another $1.3 million for private lawyers in the years since he was elected in 2013, half of which was tied up in a dispute with fellow Republicans.” And that was before he sued the federal government.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the attorneys McCrory hired to handle his lawsuit is an old friend — Karl “Butch” Bowers. Bowers has already been retained by McCrory in the state’s damaging voter ID case, where at last report, he has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees. <\/span>WRAL reported in January 2016<\/a> that Bowers had billed some $678,000 for work done through October on the case. The Associated Press reported in September 2014 that Bowers was billing the state $360 an hour for the case. And other news accounts<\/a> reported that McCrory’s office “would not say whether there is a cap on Bowers’ pay, citing that as ‘privileged information.’”<\/p>\n

Bowers has a history of defending ethically troubled politicians — most notably, <\/span>Bowers defended disgraced former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford<\/a>’s use of taxpayer funds for personal travel as “minor, technical matters.” Sanford later said he “made a mistake<\/a>,” reimbursed taxpayers and was censured<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also on the lawsuit is Robert “Bob” Stephens, General Counsel for Gov. McCrory, who has a history of <\/span>ethical miscues<\/a>:<\/p>\n