INDIANAPOLIS — Attorney General Todd Rokita has paid more than $190,000 in legal fees to a Washington D.C.-based law firm for legal work related to his investigation into an IU Health doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old girl, records show.
Those fees do not yet include the work lawyers at Schaerr Jaffe are doing to defend Rokita personally in a legal ethics case filed Monday by the Indiana Supreme Court's Disciplinary Commission.
Rokita's office declined WRTV's request for an interview Wednesday.
"This is a complaint against the official duties of the Attorney General and is an attack against his official capacity as AG," a spokesperson in Rokita's office said in an email. "It is our office's job to defend all attorneys when on the job."
Schaerr Jaffe has been doing consulting work for the office since 2019 when Curtis Hill held the office, Indiana state records show. Rokita continued using the firm for legal work after he took over for Hill in 2021, records show.
A contract extension filed in August authorizes Rokita's office to pay Schaerr Jaffe an amount "not to exceed $1.1 million" for services associated with a string of legal work involving Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the IU Health doctor who drew national attention shortly after Roe v. Wade fell.
In July 2022, Bernard told a newspaper reporter that she performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio who came to Indianapolis for the procedure.
Days later, Rokita gave a televised interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters in which he called Bernard an "abortion activist acting as a doctor" and said she had a "history of failing to report."
Rokita's comments drew the ire of the the Indiana Supreme Court's Disciplinary Commission. The ethics body on Monday filed charges against Rokita's law license.
Two of the three attorneys representing Rokita in that disciplinary case are from Schaerr Jaffe, records show.
State law gives Rokita the legal authority to use outside law firms as consultants, but one expert said the money spent on this case is excessive.
"Really the question you need to think about — at least this makes me think about as a taxpayer, not even as a legal professional — is they're spending all this state money just to have one medical professional be reprimanded," said Margaret Tarkington, a professor at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law.
"I mean, there's a lot of state resources that are going into something that really is a political stunt."
Through a records request with the Indiana Comptroller's Office, WRTV obtained a 43-page vendor report that shows at least $193,000 has been paid to Schaerr Jaffe since the spring of 2022.
Most of the money paid went to legal fees that range from $285- to $550-an hour. The largest bill covered work performed in November and December 2022 and totaled more than $52,000.
Portions of the report describing what legal services were provided were redacted in documents provided to WRTV, but some of the expenses paid by Indiana taxpayers included airfare, hotel, meals and airport parking expenses when a Schaerr Jaffe lawyer made a three-day visit to Indianapolis.
Rokita's office did not answer WRTV's emailed questions about Shaerr Jaffe's legal work.
Instead, a spokesperson emailed this statement: "Our mission is to defend all people in Indiana, and due to our workload, we are happy to welcome exceptional attorneys to our team.”
WRTV also emailed officials with Schaerr Jaffe seeking comment. The firm has not yet responded.
Legal cases involving Bernard included various hearings in Marion County courtrooms and before the medical licensing board.
After a 14-hour hearing in May, the licensing board found that Bernard violated patient privacy laws and failed to report alleged abuse properly when she spoke to the press about the 10-year-old's abortion.
The board fined Bernard $3,000 and issued her a letter of reprimand.
Tarkington, an expert in professional responsibility, said the amount the attorney general has spent on legal fees is disproportionate to the sanctions the doctor received.
"The real question is, why are we putting all these state resources into getting a $3,000 fine?" Tarkington said. "It's disproportionate. It comes out as a political stunt or dog-and-pony show so that you can get on Fox News."
Julia Vaughn, director of Common Cause Indiana, said it is "irresponsible and outrageous" for Rokita to use outside lawyers for this "personal crusade."
"His office is full of attorneys, he should not bring in expensive outside counsel to fight these political battles designed to keep his name in the news and to keep his very conservative base satisfied," Vaughn said. "He's simply throwing them red meat, but he shouldn't be using taxpayer dollars to do it."
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
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