The High Cost of 'Political" States Attorney General

Lawsuits filed over the anti-abortion former Attorney General Phil Kline's administration are costing the state of Kansas nearly three-quarter million dollars and counting.  Here is the report from yesterday's Wichita Eagle:

"Lawsuits filed against the administrations of Phill Kline while he served as attorney general and Johnson County district attorney have cost the state of Kansas $748,659 in legal fees and expenses.

The Topeka Capital Journal reported Monday that the total includes nearly $220,000 through mid-February to defend Kline's Johnson County District Attorney's administration from a lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination. Senior prosecutor Jacqie Spradling alleged that she was fired from the office in retaliation for her complaints of sexual discrimination.

The Spradling case cost the $219,172 in fees and expenses, according to records from the attorney general's office obtained by the Capital-Journal through an open records request.

Other legal fees paid by the state to defend Kline administrations include $403,528 in an ongoing ethics case before the Board for Discipline of Attorneys and $125,959 to defend Kline aides Eric Rucker and Stephen Maxwell in their ethics cases. [ . . . ]

A disciplinary panel heard testimony for eight days in February and March tied to Kline's handling of investigations of abortion providers in Kansas. A four-day hearing will start on July 19 on the second count, in which the disciplinary administrator's office alleges Kline misled a Johnson County grand jury investigating an abortion clinic. The ethics panel won't decide either allegation until the entire case is over.

Kline currently is a visiting professor of law at the Liberty University law school in Lynchburg, Va."
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The money spent to provide a defense to Kline and his rightwing cronies is "pennies" compared to what Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is costing Phoenix taxpayers.  But, hey, it's Kansas and they aren't used to ponying up the big bucks to pay for the antics of a "political" guy like Kline.  That's why Kansas voted Kline out of office in a landslide after one term.  At the link, Wikipedia's profile of Kline's "brilliant" career.