The bill for Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s legal defense for a March 5 hearing before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on “sanctuary” cities just crossed the $1 million mark.

City financial records show that a fourth payment of $250,000 was made to Covington & Burling LLC, the D.C.-based law firm that represented Johnston and the city during the highly publicized congressional hearing.

The most recent payment brings the mayor’s total to $1,050,000, all of which city sources indicate has been paid out of the general fund.

Johnston’s office maintains that while they did not ask to attend the hearing, they have “worked very hard” to keep expenses to “the absolute minimum while still offering the mayor and the City of Denver legal counsel befitting a hearing of this magnitude and consequence.”

Under the one-year contract, which expires Jan. 31, 2026, the city will pay lawyers a “discounted” rate of $1,000 per hour, with a maximum cap of $2 million.

Invoices obtained by The Denver Gazette list only a single line entry for “legal services” related to the congressional hearing.

“The costs include extensive in-person preparations for the hearing as well as months of thorough document review concerning the totality of not only the migrant response but research into local law and practices,” Jon Ewing, a Johnston spokesperson, said. “We did not ask to attend this hearing, but took being called before Congress extremely seriously and prepared accordingly.”

According to the contract, the firm agreed to “discount” its 2025 rates and provide a blended, all-attorney rate of $1,000 per hour for all partners, counsel, and associates, and $595 per hour for all professional staff — staff attorneys, paralegals and the like.

Johnston’s office declined a request from The Denver Gazette for itemized invoices that break down costs for items such as document production, billing for counsel and professional staff, and whether the city covered any transportation and lodging for the firm.

Ewing stated that the documents “contain attorney-client privileged information.”

“The city regularly enters into contracts with outside counsel to provide specialized legal expertise or to address a need for additional capacity,” said City Attorney’s Office spokesperson Melissa Sisneros in a statement to The Denver Gazette in February after the firm was hired. “This legal counsel allows the city of Denver’s leadership to focus on delivering the high-quality services residents expect and deserve, while navigating complex legal matters, including federal government actions.”

“The parties mutually agree that investigative activity is likely to continue following this hearing,” wrote Covington and Burling Partner Dana Remus in a letter to Acting Denver City Attorney Katie McLoughlin, alluding to potential litigation. 

Johnston, who along with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and New York Mayor Eric Adams appeared before Congress, was there to answer questions about Denver’s “sanctuary” policies and the city’s response to the illegal immigration crisis, which spilled over from the southern U.S. border into America’s interior cities.

The hearing was highly publicized and even live-streamed on the House Oversight Committee’s web page.

None of the four mayors has been criminally charged or removed from office since. To date, only the City of Boston has faced legal action.

On Sept. 4, 2025, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the City of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and the Boston Police Department and Police Commissioner over Boston’s “sanctuary city” laws that interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of its immigration laws.

“The City of Boston and its Mayor have been among the worst sanctuary offenders in America – they explicitly enforce policies designed to undermine law enforcement and protect illegal aliens from justice,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “If Boston won’t protect its citizens from illegal alien crime, this Department of Justice will.”