WASHINGTON
The Spokesman-Review
Kip Hill
The Spokesman-Review
Spokane’s former Bishop Blase Cupich disputes the testimony of a now-resigned top lieutenant, saying he never directed attorneys to sling mud at the law firm that guided the Spokane Diocese through bankruptcy.
In a declaration filed earlier this month with the federal Bankruptcy Court in Eastern Washington, Cupich said he directed diocese attorneys to “put pressure” on Spokane law firm Paine Hamblen by naming two of its top attorneys and their spouses in a legal malpractice lawsuit. But he didn’t advise them to throw mud at the firm “to see if any mud sticks,” as Steve Dublinksi, Cupich’s vicar general until his resignation last summer, testified in October.
“At no time did I say that we were filing the case as a way to throw mud at this law firm or besmirch their reputation,” Cupich wrote in a declaration, filed by the diocese’s legal counsel Dec. 3. “It was always a matter of trying to let them know we were serious and hoping that some aspect of our case would get their attention and stick with someone in the firm who could provide some common sense.”
The diocese, with the assistance of Paine Hamblen, filed for bankruptcy 10 years ago. It reached an agreement in 2007 to pay people who claimed abuse at the hands of priests dating back decades.
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