Report: $750K paid to Dayton's lawyers during recount
A new report shows DFL Gov. Mark Dayton paid almost $750,000 to lawyers during last year's general election recount.
The legal fees are detailed in a report recently filed with the Internal Revenue Service. A special political fund made payments to five law firms. Four of the five firms are based in Minnesota.
Dayton beat Republican candidate Tom Emmer by nearly 9,000 votes last November. The narrow margin triggered an automatic recount of more than 2 million ballots. Emmer conceded defeat as the recount was concluding in mid-December.
Dayton raised money after the election through a federally-regulated account, which allowed him to bypass tighter state contribution limits. The Republican Party backed Emmer's recount effort. But it used a special account that is not subject to public disclosure. GOP officials have not voluntarily released any details.
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