Cook's $600K Stew

A lawsuit that Rep. Merrill Cook could have settled for $120,000 may now end up costing the Utah Republican more than five times that figure.

Last month, a jury awarded Cook's 1996 campaign consultant Ron T. Nielson $174,471 for unpaid campaign debt. On Monday, 3rd District Judge Sandra Peuler tacked on interest, raising the total judgment to $232,357. More importantly, the judge ruled that Cook won't get any money for his legal fees and will likely have to pay Nielson's attorneys.

"Congressman Cook believes that this is just too much," said Cook spokeswoman Shari Holweg. "It's adding insult to injury and with the character assassination that he endured in the courtroom he will not only appeal this phase of the ruling but now the entire ruling."

"We suspect that we'll recoup most of our attorneys fees, not all of them, but most of them," said one of Nielson's lawyers, Craig C. Coburn. Cook "had an opportunity to settle it out of the gates for $120,000 and he had innumerable opportunities after that to settle up for less than $200,000. Stubbornness is a kind word."

Cook racked up $204,879 in his own legal expenses, despite getting a bargain from two of the state's most prominent attorneys. Ron Yengich and Loni DeLand charged Cook a flat rate of just $25,000. The attorneys Cook hired before Yengich and DeLand billed him more than $127,000.

So what's the likely bottom line for the embattled congressman? The entire lawsuit may end up costing Cook $613,877.

That legal tab renews questions about Cook's financial stability. According to Cook's 1999 personal financial disclosure filed with the U.S. House of Representatives, he is worth between $1.1 million and $5.4 million. But the upper figure estimates the value of Cook's mining explosives firm, Cook Associates Inc., at $5 million, even though factories in Utah and Minnesota were shut down last year. A Dun & Bradstreet rating of Cook's business ranked it a significant credit risk.

Cook has used more than $3 million in proceeds from his business to finance six bids for elected office.

At one point during the April trial, Cook's 1996 campaign co-manager Kevin Walthers said he was in the congressman's office when Cook walked to the window overlooking downtown Salt Lake City and said, "Camille (Cook's wife) was right. I've wasted the family fortune running for office. It's really not worth it."

This campaign year, Cook clings to one of the most vulnerable House seats, facing fierce opposition from more than one corner. For one thing, he's locked in a GOP primary battle with multimillionaire Derek Smith. And Democrats - needing to win just six seats to reclaim the House - are targeting Cook with their candidate, Jim Matheson.

"It has just gone beyond the point where it's about money or fairness or someone who thinks they're owed money," said Holweg, Cook's spokesperson. "This really seems to be about somebody tryig to take out a congressman and take their reputation out permanently."