Paul Singer

USA TODAY

Lawmaker spent nearly %2470%2C000 on legal fees last fall

She has retained attorneys that specialize in investigations and congressional ethics

Office says legal bills are simply part of regular consultations

WASHINGTON — Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., a member of the House Republican leadership team, spent nearly $70,000 late last year on legal fees, including payments to a firm that specializes in white-collar criminal defense and congressional investigations.

McMorris Rodgers is the only woman in House Republican leadership, holding the fourth-ranking spot. She was tapped last week to provide the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union Address. She chairs the House Republican Conference, which is the organizational forum for Republicans in the House.

McMorris Rodgers' office said the payments are simply a routine part of her job in congressional leadership, which she assumed in January 2013. "We have, on a regular basis, a number of things that come up that we have to talk to outside counsel about," said McMorris Rodgers' spokesman, Nate Hodson.

Elliot Berke, a McGuire Woods lawyer who specializes in congressional ethics, said he serves as outside counsel for McMorris Rodgers "on a wide variety of legal issues" ranging from campaign finance compliance to House rules and standards of conduct.

According to the conference website, the organization is "responsible for electing the House Republican leadership, approving GOP member committee assignments, managing leadership-driven floor debates, and executing a communications strategy that is executed within the party and is conveyed to constituents through the media."

McMorris Rodgers' first legal payments payments began a few weeks after USA TODAY published a story in July noting that she and other Republicans hired GOP campaign consultant Brett O'Donnell to provide assistance in their congressional offices with messaging and public speaking.

In some cases, O'Donnell's campaign work and his congressional service appeared to overlap. For instance, in December 2012, Rep. Paul Broun's office paid O'Donnell $1,875 for training, and McMorris Rodgers' campaign paid him $4,498, describing his services as "Office-Debate Coach." In December 2013, her campaign again paid him $12,500 for services as "speech coach." Reports on expenditures from congressional offices from October through December are not yet available.

The story made no suggestion that the arrangement broke House rules.

According to Federal Election Commission records, on Aug.12, her campaign paid $535 to McGuireWoods, and ultimately paid the firm about $49,000 through the rest of the year.

In December, McMorris Rodgers' campaign paid $6,000 to Washington, D.C., lawyer John Kern. According to his website, he "represents individuals and businesses in congressional investigations and proceedings on Capitol Hill conducted by committees of both the House and the Senate" as well as "individuals in administrative investigations and actions by Executive Branch departments and agencies like, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission."

Kern was paid more than $100,000 by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., during his ethics troubles in 2009-2010. After an investigation and trial by the House Ethics Committee, the House censured Rangel in December 2010 for failing to pay taxes, filing inaccurate financial disclosure forms, using a residential apartment as a campaign office and other transgressions.

In November and December, McMorris Rodgers' campaign also paid for legal services from law firms in Florida and Seattle, bringing the total of her legal services to $69,194. The forms do not provide details on what services the law firms provided.