A powerful Republican consultant has hired veteran trial lawyers to defend him on corruption charges.

Richard Quinn, 74, hired trial lawyers Shaun Kent of Manning and Rauch Wise of Greenwood, The State newspaper reported.

Quinn appeared at a hearing in the Richland County courthouse last week before Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen with Wise and Kent and a 3rd defense lawyer, David Aylor of Charleston.

“You don’t put together a team of lawyers like that if you’re planning to plead [guilty],” criminal defense lawyer Jack Swerling told the newspaper.

On evidence turned up by special prosecutor David Pascoe and the State Law Enforcement Division, a grand jury indicted Quinn last year on 11 counts of perjury and a count of obstruction of justice.

Assistant prosecutor Baker Allen told Judge Mullen no date has been set.

Defense attorney Rauch Wise told the judge Quinn’s attorneys have about a million pages of evidence and transcripts to review.

He said if prosecutors will narrow the evidence they intend to bring to trial, a date could be set sooner.

Allen said prosecutors may trim the documents but made no commitments.

The issue last week was a $5.25 per page copying fee a private court reporting service wants defense attorneys to pay for hundreds of pages of grand jury testimony.

Under law, defendants are entitled to copies of state grand jury testimony.

The transcripts are needed by the defense, but a $5.25 a page copying fee is too expensive, Wise told Mullen.

The judge ruled that the defense could scan documents and copy them free of charge in Pascoe’s office.

Republican critics ask why Democrat Pascoe’s multi-year investigation has been only of powerful GOP lawmakers and political forces.

Quinn has been a consultant to top Republicans including US Sen. Lindsey Graham, Gov. Henry Mc-Master, Attorney General Alan Wilson, former Sen. John Courson and Congressman Joe Wilson of Springdale.

In a 33-page indictment, Quinn is accused of intentionally lying and misleading the grand jury about his involvement with state lawmakers, including his son, former House Majority Leader Rick Quinn, and Attorney General Wilson, both of Lexington.

Pascoe’s probe has led to conviction of former House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Quinn’s son Rep. Rick Quinn, Sen. John Courson and Rep. Jim Merrill.

Former Rep. Tracy Edge has been charged with taking $300,000 from Quinn while in the Legislature.

Quinn has been accused of lying about why he helped Attorney General Wilson draft a 2015 letter to Pascoe trying to stop Pascoe from investigating State House corruption.

Quinn helped Wilson because he was trying “to protect his son, (then-Rep.) Rick Quinn, from being investigated and/or prosecuted,” the indictment reads.