State Auditor Kathy McGuiness, indicted last fall for alleged misconduct in office, asked legislators Tuesday if her office could receive $150,000 for outside legal counsel representation as needed.
Sitting before the Joint Finance Committee inside Legislative Hall, Ms. McGuiness proposed that the money be shifted from the state of Delaware’s general fund to contracted services.
- Sen. Paradee must have not seen the December 2021 news article that revealed a contract signed by McGuiness, Gov. John Carney and partners for Wilmington law firm Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP shows this outside firm has been working for the auditor’s office since 2019. This contract was approved by the Delaware Department of Justice. They had been paid $260,000 at that point. Sen. Paradee’s understanding that all state agencies get their legal services from the Office of the Attorney General is not accurate. The Delaware Technical Community College, a state agency, does not use the services of our Department of Justice. They have an in-house attorney, paid by the college’s budget. While I applaud the idea of pushing hard to understand where our tax dollars are being spent, we need our representatives in Dover to deal with facts when reviewing budget requests. — Bill Bowden
