December 13, 2024 1:50 pm
The Department of Homeland Security hired 13 employees from a prestigious, private law firm to defend Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as he faced impeachment proceedings in the House and Senate earlier this year, according to information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The DHS spent $1,625,815.26 in federal taxpayer money on more than a dozen private attorneys and staff at Debevoise and Plimpton, a self-described “premiere” global law firm, according to internal emails obtained through the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank’s oversight project.
“It’s obscene that Mayorkas spent taxpayer dollars to hire a fancy law firm to represent himself in his impeachment,” Mike Howell, executive director of the oversight project at the Heritage Foundation, said in a statement Friday. “These records show just how elaborate his defense actually was, all paid for by the people of the country he ordered invaded.”
The document named only one of the 13: counselor Carter Burwell, a former top lawyer on the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee. The other 12 staff hired include associates, a senior information security engineer, a partner, a head of global information security, and a senior litigation case manager.
House Republicans narrowly impeached Mayorkas in February. Firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) brought the impeachment charges against Mayorkas, which were drawn up by the House Homeland Security Committee. Mayorkas was impeached on two counts: willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and a breach of the public trust related to his handling of the border crisis.
The new documents obtained by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation show the staff that was hired at Debevoise and Plimpton. It was previously revealed by the conservative think tank in March that the outside firm was hired.
Mayorkas and the DHS did not violate any law by hiring external legal support during the House impeachment proceedings. The Democrat-controlled Senate decided not to hold a trial. Still, the use of taxpayer dollars for the representation came as Mayorkas was calling for funding for more Border Patrol agents to be hired.
“Starting Jan. 20, he’s not going to be able to hide behind that shield any longer,” Howell said. “Americans deserve true accountability for the purposeful damage he inflicted.”
The DHS did not respond to a request for comment
