Rep. Jim McDermott on Monday lost what could be the final round in his protracted legal battle against the House’s top Republican when the Supreme Court refused to review the matter.

The high court let stand a May federal appeals court ruling that will cost the Washington Democrat $60,000 in legal damages and more than 10 times that much in attorneys’ fees and other legal expenses owed to House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio.

The appellate court ruled that McDermott should not have given reporters access to a tape-recording of a December 1996 telephone call in which Republican leaders, including Boehner, discussed ethics allegations against then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

The call was illegally recorded by a Florida couple who overheard the GOP lawmakers discussing how to combat possible ethical challenges to Gingrich. McDermott argued that his decision to leak the information to two newspapers was an exercise of his First Amendment rights and did not break the law because he merely passed along the information and did not participate in obtaining it.

Boehner sued McDermott in 1998, and in a 5-4 opinion May 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld an award to Boehner of $10,000 in statutory damages, $50,000 in punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. Boehner presented McDermott with a bill for $880,000 in attorneys’ fees and other legal expenses.

McDermott has yet to pay a dime, instead awaiting the outcome of the Supreme Court petition he filed in September.

“As I’ve said many times: When you break the law in pursuit of a political opponent, you’ve gone too far,” Boehner said in a statement, adding that he was pleased with the “successful conclusion” of the matter.