Democratic lawyer files ethics complaint against Josh Hawley

A Democratic lawyer has filed an ethics complaint against Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley over pro bono legal services he received in 2016.

Attorney Jane Dueker on Thursday filed the complaint against Hawley, who is the state’s attorney general. Hawley’s campaign spokeswoman, Kelli Ford, called the complaint a “frivolous” action by a Democrat.

At issue is free legal help Hawley received from a Washington, D.C.-based law firm. Hawley was a University of Missouri School of Law associate professor and was running for attorney general at the time. The firm represented Hawley in a lawsuit over a Sunshine request for his university emails.

Dueker says Hawley should have reported the work as a gift in campaign finance records.

Ethics complaints are commonly filed against candidates running for office.