CAGW Releases Fourth 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 fourth 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 fourth week, amounting to a total of $510,000.  Once pretrial preparation, estimated at $250,000, is factored in the total becomes $760,000.  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.

"We have reached what appears to be the half way point in this phase of the trial and the remaining states have already spent over three quarters of a million dollars," CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  "As the people in these nine states and the District of Columbia rush to finish their taxes, they are faced with the additional burden of paying for this trial."

During the past week, the states finished presenting their case against Microsoft, trying to show that stricter remedies are needed than the ones called for by the settlement reached between Microsoft and the federal government and nine other states.  Over the course of the next month, Microsoft is expected to call approximately 30 more witnesses to testify on their behalf.  The length of the trial is expected to be about two months.

"The states have now wrapped up their case against Microsoft, but for some reason still have failed to publicly disclose how much money they have spent up to this point.  It is only fair to let consumers know the cost of this litigation," 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, has not revealed any of the current costs it is bearing on this case.

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