Hawley responds to inquiry from Secretary of State’s Office

Attorney General Josh Hawley is responding to the Secretary of State’s inquiry as it investigates whether Hawley used public funds for campaign purposes.

In a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office, D. John Sauer describes the complaint as “a frivolous act of political harassment.”

In his letter, Sauer outlined the following points about the complaint:

It does not allege that anyone “directly” made any contribution or expenditure of public funds to support a candidate for public office. It does not identify any publicly funded communication that “advocated, supported, or opposed” a candidate for public office. The Attorney General is not an officer or employee of a “political subdivision.” It does not contain any “facts of the alleged offense” known by firsthand knowledge and sworn to under penalty of perjury.

ABC 17 News previously reported the American Democracy Legal Fund wrote to Ashcroft’s office Nov. 2, four days before the November general election in which Hawley defeated incumbent U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, requesting the investigation.

“Evidence strongly suggests that Hawley used public funds as Attorney General to support his candidacy for U.S. Senate, by instructing political consultants to direct state, taxpayer-paid staff to undertake tasks that would raise Hawley’s profile in his bid to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate,” the American Democracy Legal Fund wrote in its complaint to Ashcroft’s office.

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