Kris Kobach, the far right-wing nativist attorney Sheriff Joe Arpaio's hired to train the MCSO in immigration matters, is receiving $300 per hour, plus expenses, including airline tickets to and from Arizona.
Though Arpaio's Chief Deputy David Hendershott surmised in his recent deposition in the civil rights lawsuit Melendres vs. Arpaio that Kobach was making anywhere from $250-$300 per hour, to be paid from the MCSO's RICO slush fund, I just got the official contract with Kobach from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
You can read the entire document, here. The agreement with Kobach is on page 14 of the attached PDF. His retainer is $1,500 per month, and began in October 2009, with a payment of $600 to be made for September 2009.
It states that,
"Client shall also be responsible for
advancing any costs incurred by Dr. Kobach, including costs of
investigation, telephone expenses, postage, court costs, mileage,
travel expenses, hotel costs, and any other necessary costs incurred or
advanced by Dr. Kobach on behalf of client."
Apparently, the
MCSO's already picked up the tab for one trip to Phoenix, as you can see
on page 11, in an e-mail telling Kobach to send his invoice to MCSO
bookkeeper Loretta Barkell.
Figure he flew first class?
If you're wondering about the "Dr.," Kobach is a law prof at the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law.
The controversial nativist activist also works as counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute,
the legal arm of FAIR, the notorious Federation for American Immigration
Reform, which has been tagged a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The
irony of Kobach teaching MCSO gendarmes the finer points of immigration
law is colossal, to say the least. Kobach is as anti-immigrant as they
come. One reason he lost a 2004 bid for Congress, according to
some observers, was because, "in general, Kobach was accused of taking money
from a white supremacist organization, and the charge stuck."
Currently, Kobach is vying to be Kansas' Secretary of State.
So no doubt all the moolah he'll be raking in from advising the MCSO
will come in handy. Don't think of it as your money at work. Think of
it as a campaign contribution.
Perhaps that will ease the pain. No word yet on how much he's billed the MCSO so far.
