Taxpayers pay $340 an hour for Christie aides' lawyers

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey taxpayers are paying up to $340 an hour to pay for lawyers for five current or former staffers of Gov. Chris Christie, including one of the two people Christie fired, in the George Washington Bridge scandal investigation.

The escalation of the legal spending prompted one prominent Democrat to charge that the high bills are part of a campaign to sway public opinion against the continued investigation.

"The question we've all been asking is: What is the truth worth?'' said Assemblyman John Wisniewski, head of the New Jersey Select Committee on Investigation. "If the governor's administration is unfairly and unflinchingly spending taxpayer money, that's unfortunate, but I don't believe it will stop people from wanting the answers about what happened at the bridge last September.''

One of the five staff members is Christie's former campaign manager Bill Stepien, whom the governor fired.

Stepien's attorney, Kevin Marino, said it's justified for taxpayers to pick up the $340 hourly tab because investigating lawmakers "attempted to violate Mr. Stepien's constitutional rights by serving him with a blatantly invalid subpoena, covering a period when he was undeniably employed by the state of New Jersey.

"Under the circumstances, the attorney general properly found it is in the state's best interest to defray the legal fees Mr. Stepien incurred to resist the committee's lawlessness," Marino said.

The office of acting Attorney General John Hoffman on Monday announced that legal bills for at least five current or former state officials would be covered for $340 per hour. Marino has a higher billing rate, so Stepien is responsible for the difference.

Others also benefiting from that decision are Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak, former Christie aide Christina Genovese Renna, and a current aide, Evan Ridley.

Lawyer Robert G. Stahl also is being paid by the state but it's not known who his client is. Stahl declined to comment Tuesday night.

Christie's office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Christie administration hired the Gibson Dunn law firm to perform an internal investigation at $650 per hour. The investigation alone cost a reported $1 million or more, but Hoffman recently said there's no cap on what the law firm can bill and it could take six months for the first invoices to be produced.

"It's astonishing that the administration would leave New Jersey taxpayers with that kind of exposure,'' Wisniewski said.

Wisniewski's panel has spent more than $200,000 for its counsel.