MO Secretary Of State Launches Probe Of New Sen.-Elect Josh Hawley

UNITED STATES - NOVEMBER 13: Sen.-elect Josh Hawley, R-Mo., leaves a meeting with other new GOP Senators and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Capitol on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
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Missouri’s Republican secretary of state has launched an investigation of its outgoing attorney general and Sen.-Elect Josh Hawley (R-MO), over accusations that Hawley misused public funds in order to help his political career. 

“This office will commence an investigation into the alleged offense,” Khristine Heisinger, deputy general counsel in Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s office, wrote to the American Democracy Legal Fund, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.

Last month, ADLF filed a complaint asking for an investigation following a report that Hawley had “used public funds as Attorney General to support his candidacy for U.S. Senate.” The complaint cited an October report from the Kansas City Star that, using emails the paper had obtained, showed that political consultants had directed government officials in the attorney general’s office to do certain things in order to raise Hawley’s profile for his U.S. Senate bid.

The ADLF complaint adds: “Under Hawley’s oversight and with his approval, political consultants appear to have used Missouri’s taxpayer-funded resources to construct a carefully-curated communications strategy that would puff up Hawley’s public image and prepare him for his Senate candidacy.”

Hawley defeated incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) in November.

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Notable Replies

  1. Hawley’s out-of-state [DC] political consultants [Timmy Teepell, a partner with OnMessage, and Gail Gitcho, president of First Tuesday] gave direct guidance and tasks to his taxpayer-funded staff, and followed up to ensure the tasks were completed, according to emails, text messages and other records obtained by The Kansas City Star.

    And they kept this up for two whole years without anyone saying a word about it.

    NB: OnMessage and First Tuesday share an address in Annapolis.

  2. Avatar for ajm ajm says:

    Timing is everything!

  3. Republicans committing fraud to win elections is like Hamas launching rockets into Israel… After a while, it’s just not news anymore.

  4. Sometimes you have to remember Trump is symptom more than cause. This is a decadent, corrupt party to the core.

  5. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    The Republican Party is a lawless organization that ought to be charged under RICO at this point. It’s no longer isolated examples of wrongdoing, but what seems to be a coordinated strategy. Especially when we see the anti-democratic power plays in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.

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