Hawley claims no wrongdoing after Attorney General’s office is fined

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said he was not involved in a Cole County court case that was started because of an incident when he was attorney general.

Earlier this week, a Cole County judge ruled the Missouri Attorney General's office under Hawley "knowingly and purposefully" violated state open records laws.

Judge Jon Beetem fined the Attorney General’s office $12,000 for the actions of staff members under Hawley's direction in 2017 and 2018, when he was running for a Senate seat.

In doing so, Beetem ruled in favor of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which sued in 2019 after the attorney general's office failed to provide documents that included staff emails sent from non-government addresses

 “The case does not involve me personally, but I have been... My own conduct has been investigated and again I've been found to have done nothing wrong, but that doesn't stop the Democrats from constantly attacking,” Hawley said.

Missouri Democratic Party Chairman Michael Butler responded to Hawley’s claim.

“The is the typical antics of ‘Lyin’ Josh Hawley.' He will do anything, say anything and lie to anyone to get ahead,” Butler said.