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How much are Rhode Islanders paying Carcieri's right-wing GOP buddy?

Lynch files FOIA request with Carcieri demanding details of Attorney Bopp payment

Decries use of taxpayer money to advance Gov.'s own personal, political agenda

PAWTUCKET- Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch Freedom of Information Act request has filed a with the Carcieri administration today asking if right-wing Republican attorney James Bopp, Jr. has been paid by the Rhode Island taxpayers for legal services rendered on behalf of Governor Carcieri, and if so, how much.

Last week, Bopp filed a brief of amicus curiae (friend of the court) on behalf of Governor Carcieri with the Rhode Island Supreme Court in a matter meant to decide whether a lesbian couple, legally married in Massachusetts, could be divorced in Rhode Island.

Since Gov. Carcieri holds no known legal standing in the case of Chambers v. Ormiston, Lynch is asking if Carcieri billed the state of Rhode Island for Bopp's services to advocate what is clearly a personal and politically-motivated opposition to marriages of same sex spouses.

"Jim Bopp has made a living representing the narrow-minded ideology of people like Tom DeLay, and I'm sure he doesn't come cheap. I think the taxpayers have a right to know if they're paying the legal bills of this right-wing Republican lawyer, whose only role appears to be that of advocating the governor's personal and political point of view," Lynch said.

Carcieri's brief, filed by Bopp, details an ardent opposition to marriages of same sex spouses. Bopp is a member of the Republican National Committee and serves as a "special advisor" to the Mitt Romney presidential campaign. Gov. Carcieri has publicly endorsed Romney for president.

Rhode Island General Law 37-2-70 pertaining to procedures a state governmental entity must adhere to before procuring the services of an attorney states:

"The attorney shall enter into a letter of engagement with the state. The letter of engagement shall state the rate of compensation, the scope of the services to be performed for the compensation, and provision for the payment of expenses incurred in connection with legal services. The letter of engagement shall certify that the rate of compensation does not exceed the rate of compensation charged by counsel to his or her preferred public or private clients. A letter of engagement shall not be for more than one year."

"The governor is using taxpayer money to advocate his personal opinion, and whether you're for or against marriages of same sex spouses, you have to be outraged by that. This is nothing less than a gross abuse of the governor's authority, and I believe Mr. Carcieri should be held accountable," Lynch said.

"Mr. Bopp is the same lawyer who travels around the country and defends the Republican Party, its candidates and elected officials every time they get caught violating campaign finance laws. In fact, he's the same lawyer who Governor Carcieri turned to for counsel when I brought him before the Board of Elections for committing the most egregious violation of the state's campaign finance laws in Rhode Island's history," Lynch said.

Lynch's request seeks details on how much Bopp was or will be paid for legal work on behalf of the state and his compensation for defending Carcieri and the RI GOP when they consorted with the Republican National Committee for a 2002 campaign television commercial financed by the RI GOP through the RNC. The ad conveniently ran on Rhode Island's airwaves less than two weeks before the 2002 general election, at a time when the Carcieri campaign just happened to have pulled its own advertisements.

Bopp's other notable clients include the Christian Broadcasting Network; Traditional Values Coalition; the Christian Coalition, as well as the Republican parties of Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont.

"If the governor wants to be a zealous advocate marriage equality that's his constitutionally protected right, but he should not be allowed to stick the taxpayers with a bill for advancing his own personal and political agenda," Lynch said.

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