Audit of Josh Hawley shows a secretive politician focused on climbing the ladder
On Dec. 16, 2017, Josh Hawley, then-Missouri attorney general, attended a Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium. Hawley says he paid for the ticket but used a state car and driver to travel more than 300 miles for the contest.
Hawley and his wife watched the game from a private box. The Chiefs won, beating the San Diego Chargers.
How does Hawley justify the use of a state car to see an NFL game? According to Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway’s audit, released Thursday, Hawley believed he attended in his “official capacity” — that is, he was there as attorney general, not just as Josh Hawley, football fan.
The record does not show why an attorney general needed to be at the game. Perhaps the team anticipated a bad call and wanted the state’s top law enforcement officer nearby as backup.
No matter. The incident is one of several in the audit reflecting Hawley’s blurring of lines between his personal interests, his professional responsibilities, and his political career, a habit that should concern every Missourian.
Yes, a football game is relatively harmless. But the audit also found Attorney General Hawley aggressively intertwined his office staff with political consultants in 2017, potentially breaking Missouri law. The staff “coordinated with campaign-paid consultants,” the audit found, in advance of Hawley’s 2018 U.S. Senate race.
State law prohibits using taxpayer resources, including state employees, to further anyone’s political campaign.
But the legality of Hawley’s efforts was unclear because of the lack of documentation surrounding the staff discussions with the partisan advisers. Emails and texts were often exchanged privately, and written records were sketchy.
As a result of the secrecy, Galloway said, “we cannot conclude that any laws were violated.”
Naturally, Hawley, who is now Missouri’s junior U.S. senator, claimed exoneration.”Once again, partisan campaign attacks against Josh Hawley have been proven false,” said Brian Barnes, an attorney for a Washington D.C.-based law firm.
Hawley’s response to the audit defends his use of public resources for political and private purposes, claiming other politicians do it, too. That’s a pretty thin excuse for someone who wants to write laws for other people to follow.
Galloway is a Democrat and is a candidate for governor, facts that may convince some Missourians that her audit is somehow biased. Others, though, will find in the 462-page report what most have known about Hawley for years: His political ambition colors everything he does.
Legal niceties such as political interference in the public’s business and full transparency apparently are not concerns.
Galloway’s audit also reveals an ongoing dispute between her office and current Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican. The auditors wanted their report to include emails, transcripts of interviews and other documents.
Schmitt’s office bitterly resisted such transparency. The attorney general’s effort to protect Hawley from public scrutiny should concern every voter in the state.
Galloway’s audit of Hawley is worrisome, but it isn’t a surprise. It reveals Josh Hawley to be a ladder-climbing politician unconcerned with the rules. That will be an important thing to recall when he starts his presidential campaign next year.