Court Orders Rep. McDermott to Pay Boehner More Than $1 Million

[Wretched Excess]

Court Orders Rep. McDermott to Pay Boehner More Than $1 Million

A federal judge in Washington has ordered Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott to pay more than $1 million in attorney’s fees awarded to Minority Leader John A. Boehner as part of a protracted lawsuit involving an illegally taped cell phone call.

U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Hogan ruled that McDermott, D-Wash., must pay $1,053,181, plus $520,761 in interest to Boehner, R-Ohio.

The payment order, issued Monday, stems from an unusual member-vs.-member case that Boehner filed long before he became the House Republican leader.

Boehner sued McDermott in 1998, accusing him of leaking the contents of a conference call that a Florida couple had illegally taped from Boehner’s cell phone in 1996.

In the call, Republican leaders, including then-Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia (1979-99), discussed responding to ethics allegations against Gingrich, who served as Speaker from 1995 to 1999.

McDermott at the time was the ranking Democrat on the House ethics panel.

The attorney’s fee payment comes on top of $60,000 in damages that McDermott already has paid Boehner out of his legal expense fund.

In December, McDermott paid Boehner $50,000 in court-ordered punitive damages, $10,000 in statutory damages and another $4,169 in interest, according to public disclosure filings. The payment was made shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a federal appeals court ruling in Boehner’s favor.

Over the years and through many layers of courts, McDermott argued that he was exercising his First Amendment rights and did not break the law because he did not participate in obtaining the information that he passed along to selected reporters. He maintained that position in the face of the latest court order as well.

“While the amount of damages assessed in this case is significant, I submit that defending the First Amendment is beyond measure and worth every penny,” McDermott said in a statement, adding, “With the end of this case, another threat against the First Amendment has been met and turned back.”

linky

that's fine.  as long as we don't have to pay mcdermott's therapy bills.

[DixieBelle]

Good!

Isn't he Bahgdad Jim?

[franksolich]

Good!

Isn't he Bahgdad Jim?

Yep.  The one and the same.

[Chris_]

oh my. 

[Wretched Excess]

Good!

Isn't he Bahgdad Jim?

yeah, but after this, he is probably only fallujah jim.