By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff

Now that the Supreme Court has refused to intervene, Rep. Jim McDermott almost certainly will owe damages to the House’s top Republican, and it’s unclear whether he can tap his legal-defense fund to help pay the bill.

House ethics rules are silent on whether damages and fees are among acceptable legal expenses.

The rules state that legal-defense funds “shall be used only for legal expenses” and expenses incurred in soliciting for and administering the trust.

It’s an open question, but the answer could be enormously important to McDermott, D-Wash.

On Monday, he lost what could be the final round in his protracted legal battle with House Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio.

The high court let stand a federal appeals court ruling ordering McDermott to pay Boehner $60,000 in damages as well as attorney’s fees that the Boehner camp contends have topped $800,000.

A U.S. District Court judge ultimately will determine how much McDermott must pay.

Boehner sued McDermott in 1998, accusing him of leaking an illegally taped conference call among Republican leaders.

The tape was recorded in 1996 by a Florida couple who overheard GOP lawmakers discussing how to combat possible ethical challenges to Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. (1979-99).

McDermott spokesman Mike DeCesare declined to comment on whether the 10-term lawmaker might use money from his legal-defense fund to pay Boehner.

Aided in part by a Web site that allows donors to pledge contributions online, McDermott has accepted more contributions to his legal-defense fund in the first nine months of this year than any other member of Congress, according to reports filed with the House and Senate ethics panels.

Nearly $52,000 flowed into the Jim McDermott Legal Expense Trust between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, according to McDermott’s disclosure statements. Donations have swelled from $3,900 in the first quarter to $31,900 between July 1 and Sept. 30.

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank , D-Mass., one of about 90 contributors, gave $2,500.

“I think [McDermott] showed some poor judgment, but I don’t think it’s a thing for which he should be financially penalized,” Frank said when asked why he made the June 14 donation.

The majority of McDermott’s donations have come from individual constituents in his hometown of Seattle. Of the $51,659.50 in contributions reported this year, he reported spending $26,122.06, mostly on fundraising, accounting and mailings.

The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct does not require members to report how much money is in each account, so it’s impossible to readily discern the amount lawmakers have at any given point. DeCesare declined to comment on how much money was in McDermott’s legal-defense account.

Lawmakers With Defense Funds

Ethics experts say the creation of lawmaker legal-defense accounts has grown in recent years in response to an increase in Justice Department and Federal Election Commission investigations, as well as lawsuits by private individuals.

Five other House members and Sen. John Kerry , D-Mass., maintain active defense funds and have reported contributions this year.

Two lawmakers — Sen. Orrin G. Hatch , R-Utah, and Rep. Brad Miller , D-N.C. — have defense funds but have not reported any contributions this year.

“It ebbs and flows,” said Stanley M. Brand, who served as House general counsel and is representing Sen. Larry E. Craig , R-Idaho, in efforts to clear his name before the Senate Ethics Committee.

Craig, who pleaded guilty in August to a disorderly conduct charge, has no legal-defense fund. But paying costs associated with litigation can present a financial hardship for many lawmakers, said Brand, who likened defense funds to the indemnity protections typically extended to corporate officials.

The same might be said of political campaign funds. Lawmakers also are allowed under Federal Election Commission rules to tap their campaign coffers to help pay many legal costs, and Craig is among those who have recently chosen that route.

“Unfortunately, in our era one never knows when their legal difficulties are over,” Brand said.

In addition to McDermott and Miller, Democrats Corrine Brown of Florida and William J. Jefferson of Louisiana have active defense funds. On the Republican side, John T. Doolittle of California, Phil English of Pennsylvania and Tom Feeney of Florida have created funds.

Records show that Feeney has raised $46,100 so far this year, while Doolittle has raised $31,750. Nearly one-third of Doolittle’s donations came from Hatch, who gave $10,000. Both Feeney and Doolittle have been caught up in the federal investigation of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Jefferson, whose trial on federal charges of bribery and corruption will begin in January, has reported $23,050 in donations.

Like McDermott, most of Jefferson’s money has come from constituents, with two notable exceptions: House Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel , D-N.Y., donated $10,000, and Rep. Donald M. Payne , D-N.J., gave $1,000.

Brown and English have raised $22,200 and $2,500, respectively. Miller’s defense fund has not reported any contributions this year but has paid out $20,000 to a law firm.

Kerry has reported $45,000 in donations this year to a legal-defense fund he established in 2006 to fight a civil suit charging him with conspiracy and defamation.