CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois' powerful House speaker spent nearly half a million dollars in campaign contributions on legal fees in the last three months of 2019, records show.

Of the $445,000 that Democrat Michael Madigan's campaign spent on legal fees, $275,000 was for a settlement with a former campaign worker who filed a lawsuit in 2018 alleging that she was hindered from advancing in the speaker’s organization after alleging sexual harassment by a top Madigan lieutenant.

Of the remaining money, $139,209 went to the Chicago office of Hinshaw & Culbertson and $6,500 to attorney Michael Kasper to cover costs tied to three other civil cases, spokeswoman Eileen Boyce said, according to the Chicago Tribune. In one case, Jason Gonzales challenged Madigan’s 2016 campaign tactics. Two other cases stemmed from David Krupa’s 2019 challenge to Madigan’s handpicked Ald. Marty Quinn, 13th, Boyce said.

Madigan, who is the longest-serving state House speaker in modern American history, also paid some fees to Fox Swibel Levin & Carroll for training, Boyce said.

The legal fees were detailed in a quarterly report of the speaker's campaign account that was filed Wednesday with the state Board of Elections. It covers spending from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2019.

Campaign finance reports show that the Chicago Democrat remains a major fundraising force, controlling four different political funds which raised a combined $8.5 million between October and December last year.

Meanwhile, House Republican leader Jim Durkin raised about $767,000 in political funds also between October and December, beginning this year with just under $2 million in cash.

Other Chicago politicians also paid legal fees using campaign fund dollars during the last quarter of 2019.

Alderman Edward Burke spent about $400,000 in campaign funds on the defense team handling his federal public corruption case.

State Sen. Tom Cullerton’s campaign fund said that in October it paid $25,000 to his attorney in a federal embezzlement case.

The campaign fund for former state Rep. Luis Arroyo, who resigned after being arrested on a federal bribery charge, reimbursed his wife, Maribel, $10,000 for legal fees paid with personal funds, records show.