Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) admitted to spending $650,000 in legal fees to prepare her for last week’s congressional oversight hearing on sanctuary city policies.
During the six-hour committee hearing on March 5, lawmakers grilled Wu, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D), and New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) over their cities’ sanctuary laws.
‘Do we need to spend $650,000 of taxpayer funds on a show trial hearing?’
A spokesperson for Wu’s office confirmed that the city “expects to pay” up to $650,000 to a law firm for preparation sessions that included the mayor’s senior advisers, Cabinet leaders, law department, and Boston Police. For an additional $8,500, Wu brought dozens of her staff members to Washington, D.C., the Boston Herald reported.
Wu’s office noted that Cahill Gordon & Reindel, an external law firm, charged the city $950 per hour.
A spokesperson for the legal firm told Boston.com that it “is pleased to represent Mayor Michelle Wu and the city of Boston in this congressional investigation.”
During a Tuesday interview on GBH’s Boston Public Radio, Wu defended her decision amid scrutiny over the massive legal bill.
She called the committee’s investigation “extremely serious.”
“As much as it can seem like a sort of show or production when you’re watching it, Congress has power, and people who are in the federal government have real power to enact consequences, whether that’s on federal funding or whether that is to follow through with some of the threats around prosecution of individual people or the referral to the Department of Justice,” Wu said.
“It is money that I very, very much wish we did not have to spend at all, and time from my staff and team that could have gone to much better, much more important things. But, the stakes are high,” she stated. “We’re still continuing with the document production that has been formally requested.”
Wu vowed to continue providing the committee with the requested materials.
“When there was threats to put me in jail, to take away funding, I needed to make sure that I was doing everything possible to represent our city well, to represent the policies with complete accuracy, and having legal representation was a necessary part of that,” Wu added.
Josh Kraft, a Democratic mayoral challenger, bashed Wu for spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on legal preparation.
He stated, “Mayor Wu said she’s going to DC to defend the city, and I support this. My question is: do we need to spend $650,000 of taxpayer funds on a show trial hearing?”
Kraft told WCVB, “I understand the preparation, but in a time when the city is becoming more and more fiscally vulnerable, I think $650,000 in preparation is a lot of money. If it was me, I would’ve looked at other more cost-effective measures to prepare for the testimony in D.C., and in addition, I know 12 folks from city hall accompanied the mayor there. I would leave at least probably two-thirds or more back to be in city hall to be responsive to the citizens of Boston.”
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News, Michelle wu, Boston, Massachusetts, Sanctuary cities, Sanctuary city, Sanctuary policies, Immigration crisis, Immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Oversight committee, Politics
