$1.4 million
National Journal reports that several Democrat strategists “balked” at the fact that the DCCC paid Marc Elias and his law firm $1.4 million for “recount services” in March alone.
$1.4 million for a few legal briefs and a failed attempt to steal an election.
Nobody knows how to light money on fire like the DCCC!
In case you missed it…
New congressional maps reapportion Marc Elias’s responsibilities
National Journal
Kirk Bado
April 29, 2021
If a Democrat is challenging an election law, chances are pretty good attorney Marc Elias is on the case.
…
Since Elias became the head of political law in 2009, Perkins Coie has billed over $170 million to Democratic campaigns, committees, and candidates. Most recently, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee paid the firm more than $1.4 million in March alone for “recount services,” according to quarterly campaign filings.
…
Before representing Democrats in their burgeoning redistricting fight, Elias was the lead attorney in former Iowa state Sen. Rita Hart’s campaign to overturn her 6-vote loss to Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and then-Rep. Anthony Brindisi’s recount in New York, both of which ended in losses for Democrats.
Following months of filings, tense congressional committee hearings, and mounting criticism from vulnerable Democrats at the prospect of overturning a state-certified result, Hart eventually withdrew her challenge, a decision Elias said he supported. Republicans, who hammered Democrats on the issue for weeks, took several victory laps.
Several Democratic strategists who spoke with National Journal balked at the price tag, given that those recounts ultimately resulted in nothing more than hurt feelings and the House campaign committee footing the bill, but they were quick to point out Elias’s stellar track record elsewhere.
When asked about the optics of attempting to overturn the state-certified election results in Iowa’s 2nd district after Democrats unanimously condemned Trump’s legal challenges, Elias compared Hart’s campaign to election challenges he’s litigated for Democrats more successfully in North Carolina and Minnesota.
“You’ve got to fight the fights you fight day by day and then figure the politics are going to evolve over time,” he said.
For Hart, the politics did not break her way. It was a rare loss for Elias, whose success fighting against Trump’s lawsuits has significantly raised his profile. He’s increasingly been the focus of GOP attacks and begrudging respect as he becomes the face of Democrats’ courtroom offense. Trump called him Democrats’ “best Election stealing lawyer.” From his Twitter account, Elias has relished the role of pesky thorn in Republicans’ side.
…
With the attention comes added scrutiny. In March, Elias and other Perkins Coie lawyers were hit with sanctions from a federal court for violating ethics rules in a suit against Texas. The firm stood by its attorneys as Republicans celebrated the rare rebuke.
Like other white-collar workers stuck working from home during the pandemic, Elias became a content creator. What started as an email list-serv several years ago evolved into Democracy Docket, now a weekly newsletter tracking electoral litigation all over the country, run by a full-time staff, that goes out to 80,000 subscribers.
…