Missouri Ethics Commission dismisses complaint filed against Josh Hawley
UPDATE 6/24: The Missouri Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint filed June 3 against Missouri attorney general candidate Josh Hawley. The commission says it did not find reasonable grounds that Hawley violated campaign finance law.
ORIGINAL STORY 6/6:
Another complaint is filed in the Republican race for Missouri attorney general against candidate Josh Hawley.
The complaint is being called “a joke” by Hawley campaign spokesman Scott Paradise.
In a statement to ABC 17 News, Paradise said, “It’s a re-packaged version of the same complaint that was dismissed last year. This is the 3rd completely frivolous legal action filed by Kurt Schaefer’s allies and is simply another desperate attempt to distract voters by a campaign that has failed to gain traction.”
The new complaint, filed on June 3, is by Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russell Oliver, but the complaint in not entirely new.
A similar complaint was filed by Robert Palmer of Springfield back in March of 2015.
The new complaint hits on some of the same issues, but this one alleges Hawley violated Missouri campaign disclosure laws by forming non-profit groups that didn’t disclose campaign contributions.
It also calls the groups “secret campaign committees to mask more than a year of illegal campaign activity” while Hawley remained on the job at the University of Missouri, which is against the university’s rules.
Hawley took an unpaid leave of absence last year to seek the AG’s office.
The complaint also claims Hawley used computers and other “state resources” to seek public office while he was still on the job at Mizzou.
Paradise continued to dismiss the complaint saying, “The simple choice facing Missourians this August – between a career politician who is part of the problem and a conservative outsider who will change Jefferson City – is becoming more clear every day.”
You may remember when we reported the complaint, ultimately accepted by the Missouri Ethics Commission against Senator Schaefer by a D.C.-based group called the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (F.A.C.T.).
It claims Schaefer pressured University of Missouri officials into making it harder for Hawley to run against him for attorney general. Senator Schaefer has denied the allegations.
