FRANKFORT, Ky (AP) - Gov. Andy Beshear’s legal team has submitted a bill seeking nearly $18,000 in reimbursement from people who unsuccessfully pushed for his impeachment over his actions to slow the spread of COVID-19, according to expenses submitted to lawmakers.
Beshear’s lawyers spent nearly 160 hours in successfully defending the Democratic governor against the impeachment petition filed by a handful of Kentuckians.
Last month, the House Impeachment Committee recommended that the governor and the Republican attorney general not face removal from office. Both Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron were then directed by the panel to submit “a bill of costs” to the committee by March 3.
Cameron’s office said that while it respects the committee’s recommendations to recover costs, it would not seek reimbursement.
In Kentucky, unsuccessful petitioners are required to pay back the legal fees incurred by the officer the petition was filed against. They must also pay back panel members and their legal counsel for their time.
Petitioners alleged that Beshear violated the state and U.S. constitutions with a series of coronavirus-related orders issued to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Beshear maintains his actions saved lives.
The Cameron impeachment petition, signed by a group of people including three grand jurors, criticized the attorney general’s handling of the investigation into Breonna Taylor’s shooting death by Louisville police last year. Cameron has defended his actions and insists that he handled the case properly.
Separate reports concluded that the allegations against Beshear and Cameron did not rise to the level of impeachable conduct.
State Rep. C. Ed Massey, a Republican member of the panel, has filed a bill that would only allow members of the House of Representatives to file a written petition to impeach an officer. The petition would have to be signed by two other members.
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Hudspeth Blackburn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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This story, first published on March 4, 2021, has been corrected to show that Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office said it will not seek reimbursement for unsuccessful efforts to impeach him. The Associated Press had incorrectly characterized Cameron’s response in an earlier version of the story.
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