Maryland board approves $50,000 for Gov. Moore's legal defense against David Smith

Tinashe Chingarande, The Baltimore Sun on Oct 7, 2026

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BALTIMORE — The Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved a $50,000 payment to outside lawyers representing Gov. Wes Moore in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by Baltimore Sun co-owner David Smith.

The governor, who chairs the board, was not present at the meeting, and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller stood in for him. Miller, however, abstained from the vote, and her reason why was not immediately clear. Board members Treasurer Dereck Davis and Comptroller Brooke Lierman approved the funding request, which will support a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Moore’s legal team filed on Oct. 2. Initially, the attorney general’s office requested about $550,000 to pay Foley Hoag, but has since reduced that number to $50,000 to cover charges related to Moore’s motion. It is unclear when the attorney general will request more money, and how much, if the motion to dismiss is denied. The attorney general’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The attorney general’s office revised its request twice, according to BPW records, with the last one made on Oct. 6. Revisions reflect changes to the amount requested and that the attorney general’s office selected outside counsel through a competitive process.

Moore’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his absence. Miller’s office also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on why she abstained from the board’s vote.

The vote comes amid questions over whether Moore is entitled to use state money for his defense. Former state officials and legal scholars have argued that Moore should not participate in decisions involving his own defense, while the legal question of whether he was acting within the scope of his official duties when he made the statement at issue remains unresolved.

In the lawsuit filed July 31 in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, Smith alleges that the governor falsely said during a June 16 appearance on MS NOW that Smith “was invested in by Jeffrey Epstein.”

During Wednesday’s meeting, Lierman pointed to Maryland law that allows state resources to fund legal representation for civil servants sued over their official duties. Lierman added that when Moore appears in TV interviews, “he is speaking as our governor” and has free speech rights.

“I certainly don’t want a country where anyone with a big legal budget can sue a public servant into silence, or can either or can even chill public servants’ speech,” Lierman said. “I don’t want a country where you cannot speak your mind, even when powerful people and corporations disagree.”

Maryland law allows the attorney general to represent a state officer or employee in certain legal actions and permits the office to hire special counsel when the attorney general determines that representation by the office is impracticable or uneconomical. The governor, then, approves the attorney general’s outside counsel request, and the Board of Public Works signs off on payments to outside counsel.

The attorney general’s office has hired Washington-based Foley Hoag LLP as special counsel.

Foley Hoag will charge $700 an hour for attorneys and $250 an hour for paralegals and litigation support staff, plus reasonable costs, with its fees for the initial motion-to-dismiss phase capped at $50,000.

Foley Hoag’s payment will come from Maryland’s general fund, which pools revenue from taxes such as personal income and corporate business taxes.

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