Idaho Capitol Sun Report

In a response to a public records request, Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin’s office says it cannot find invoices or records for private, outside legal expenses that McGeachin is asking taxpayers to pay $50,000 to cover.

The Idaho Capital Sun has filed two requests under the Idaho Public Records Act seeking the release of McGeachin’s invoices for legal expenses related to the Idaho Press Club’s successful lawsuit seeking the release of 3,602 public comments regarding her education indoctrination task force. 

McGeachin initially heavily redacted the public comments and then released the unredacted documents to the Idaho Capital Sun on Sept. 30 after District Judge Steven Hippler ordered McGeachin to do so. 

On Aug. 31, McGeachin filed budget documents with the state’s Division of Financial Management requesting exactly $50,000 in supplemental funding to pay for “unforeseen legal bills that cannot be covered by the office’s current budget,” Boise State Public Radio reported. 

“The Office of the Lt. Governor is writing this request for $50,000 supplemental due to unforeseen legal bills related to a lawsuit from the Idaho Press Club after the Attorney General’s Office failed to properly represent the Office of the Lt. Governor,” McGeachin wrote in the supplemental funding request. “Office of the Lt. Governor was forced to find outside counsel following the abrupt termination of counsel and guidance from the Attorney General’s Office after almost two months. The Office of the Lt. Governor has one of the smallest budgets in the state.”

The Attorney General’s office said in a statement Thursday that it last counseled the lieutenant governor in June, and that “the subsequent financial burden Idaho taxpayers now face” is a result of her seeking independent counsel.