Rep. Bishop's legal bills in ethics probe reach $80G

A $5,000 political donation has cost Rep. Tim Bishop's campaign fund $80,000 in legal fees so far in his battle against an ethics complaint over the gift.

Bishop's fund paid Dechert LLP $25,000 on July 20 and Perkins Coie $20,000 on Aug. 20, his campaign filing last week shows. His fund already had paid the law firms $35,000. He also gave the $5,000 donation to charity.

Bishop (D-Southampton) is fighting an Office of Congressional Ethics report that found "substantial reason" to believe he violated the law when he asked a constituent he was helping for the donation. It also charged that Bishop accepted a bigger donation than allowed by misreporting it. Bishop is awaiting a ruling by the House Ethics Committee, the final arbiter. Bishop denies he did anything wrong or illegal. -- Tom Brune