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Attorney Randy Mastro is shown in this March file photo, holding up a report his firm produced that he said exonerated Gov. Chris Christie from any involvement in the George Washington Bridge scandal. Mastro's firm billed the state nearly $800,000 for work from May to July.

(John Munson/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — The tab for the main law firm Gov. Chris Christie hired to deal with the George Washington Bridge scandal is $7.3 million and counting.

Late this afternoon, Acting Attorney General John Hoffman released the latest invoices for the firm, Gibson Dunn.

The invoices show $784,459 in charges to the state — at the discounted hourly rate of $350 an hour — for May, June and July. That's on top of the $6.52 million the administration had spent on the legal bills through April.

Christie retained Gibson Dunn in January to deal with the scandal unleashed by the disclosure that top aides had blocked access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in an apparent act of political retaliation against the town's mayor.

Gibson Dunn attorney Randy Mastro prepared a voluminous report, released in March, that cleared Christie of any wrongdoing or advance knowledge of the lane closures, laying the blame on his aides. The report also sought to cast doubt on Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s claims that Christie officials threatened to withhold Sandy relief funds if she did not make way for a politically-connected development project.

Democrats called the Mastro report a "whitewash." Christie, by contrast, called it "comprehensive and exhaustive."

The bridge scandal has resulted in a state legislative investigation, as well as a federal investigation.

Christie’s office has stressed that Gibson Dunn’s normal rate was heavily discounted for the job.

But Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), who’s leading the legislative inquiry, said it’s more than the firm deserves.

“It’s an egregious amount of money for the work that has been done,” Wisniewski said.

The invoices show that the firm’s work gradually slowed as the summer progressed. Half of he charges — $388,014 — were in May. In June, it was $249,972, followed by $146,473 in July. Attorneys for the firm charged for reviewing documents, holding conference calls, sitting in on investigative hearings and more. Names and details are often redacted in the invoices.

The firm’s work isn’t done as investigations continue. And other firms have been paid by the Christie administration as well. Riker Danzig, which represents 17 staffers, has billed $272,654.

Wisniewski also questioned the timing of the document release, on the Friday before Labor Day weekend.

“The accepted wisdom is you release bad news on the Friday before a major holiday,” he said. “That way it gets lost in everybody’s plans to enjoy themselves and get away and doesn’t get seen.”

A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office declined to comment.

Wisniewski's committee, which has also hired outside counsel, has not released its recent legal billings. As of March, its legal bills totaled $725,000.

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