CAGW Releases Third Round of Numbers

(Washington, D.C.) - In an ongoing effort to inform taxpayers of the high cost of the continued litigation against Microsoft by nine state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released the third of its weekly updates estimating the amount of money being risked by the states at taxpayers' expense.  The total amount spent can be tracked through a spending meter located on CAGW's website, www.cagw.org.  At the conclusion of the trial, on behalf of the taxpayers in the nine states and D.C., CAGW will present an invoice to the attorneys general for the final cost.

CAGW's analysis, based on information collected from other leading litigation firms in Washington, reveals that each day in court costs at least $30,000.  The current stage of the trial, which began Monday, March 18, 2002, has now reached its 13^th day, amounting to a total of $390,000.  Once pretrial preparation, estimated at $250,000, is factored in the total becomes $640,000.  CAGW has calculated that prior to the current remedy phase of the litigation, the cost of the entire Microsoft trial involving all the states and the Department of Justice is $35 million.

"At the current rate, if this trial continues for months, as expected, taxpayers could end up with a rather hefty legal bill," CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  "People want to see the end of this litigation.  The only ones who are interested in continuing the trial, aside from Microsoft's competitors, are the remaining state attorneys general.  Their pockets are being lined with thousands of dollars in campaign donations from those competitors while they continue to risk taxpayer money with each day of the trial."

According to campaign contribution reports, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has received more than $75,000 from Microsoft competitors, including Oracle Corporation.  Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, has received as much as $20,000 from the likes of Oracle and Sun Microsystems.  Syndicated columnist Robert Novak recently wrote that the money trail to the attorneys general "looks like more of a political scandal than Enron."

"When the elected officials in charge of the Microsoft litigation have a personal interest in continuing the case, the states should come clean regarding the amount of money they are spending," continued Schatz.  "The federal government and nine other states have already settled the case, and so too should the remaining states."

CAGW has repeatedly asked for information regarding the states' expenditures in the case by filing Freedom of Information Act requests with the attorneys general, most recently in January 2002.  The states have either denied the requests or provided incomplete responses.  California, which is leading the effort to prolong the litigation, promised to provide information by early February.  To date, there has been no additional response from the state.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.