Governor Rick Snyder has increased his legal defense budget for one of his private attorneys to $3.5 million dollars.
Snyder hired Warner, Norcross & Judd LLP last spring to represent him in the investigations into the Flint water crisis.
The contract for their firm at the time was for 249-thousand dollars. Over time, that cap rose to 2 million dollars before its most recent increase.
Spokesperson for Governor Snyder, Anna Heaton, said as long as the Attorney General’s investigation is ongoing, there is legal work to be done.
“We are required to comply with this investigation and in order to do that we need…you know it’s a legal investigation and so we need lawyers who are able to produce the work that we ask for,” she said.
The money comes from taxpayer dollars – an issue that in the past caused a Flint resident to ask for a grand jury to look into the legality of the use. That case was not accepted by the court.
