Gov. Pat McCrory’s chief legal counsel said Tuesday that the governor, a Republican, decided to hire an outside lawyer to defend a lawsuit over the state’s new voter identification and election law because of public statements about the law from Democratic state Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Cooper had urged McCrory to veto the far-reaching elections bill that not only will require voters to show a state-approved photo ID at the polls, but also would shorten the early voting period, do away with same-day registration, and disallow provisional ballots cast by voters who live in another precinct.

“If you were charged with a crime, would you want to hire a lawyer who had gone out on the street corner and announced publically that you were guilty?” asked Bob Stephens, McCrory’s chief legal counsel.

“We wouldn’t have done it but for these comments,” Stephens said.

Cooper is considered a potential candidate for governor in 2016.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Monday that the federal government was suing the state over its new election law. The federal government is seeking a declaration that the state’s new law violates the federal Voting Rights Act and is unconstitutional.

Stephens said that the outside attorney, Butch Bowers of South Carolina, is “very talented,” has worked on election law litigation and “knows the lawyers [at the U.S. Department of Justice who] signed this complaint. …”

Bowers will bill the state at a rate of $360 per hour, Stephens said.

Cooper’s office questioned the need to bring in outside counsel. “Our office has successfully defended laws that the attorney general doesn’t agree with before,” said spokeswoman Noelle Talley in a statement. “We don’t think this is the time to be wasting taxpayers’ money on unnecessary outside lawyers.”

Talley added, “This office will continue to do its duty under the law to defend the state in court.”

Stephens said that Bowers will work with a team of two other attorneys — Alec Peters and Susan Nichols — from the attorney general’s office. Peters is senior deputy attorney general for special litigation. Nichols is special deputy attorney general who generally advises and represents the State Board of Elections, Talley said.

Stephens added that the General Assembly had retained another private attorney, Tom Farr, to help represent the legislative branch in election law litigation. A law passed this year allows the General Assembly to hire outside counsel to intervene in lawsuits, but the General Assembly has not intervened in the suit brought by Holder.

Stephens said he felt confident about the legal team working together, and about the outcome of the lawsuit.

“There is no light between us; we are standing shoulder to shoulder,” Stephens said about the cooperation between the outside counsel and attorney general’s lawyers. “I’m confident we’re going to win.”

Barry Smith (@Barry_Smith) is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.