JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As the Show-Me State celebrates Sunshine Week, politicians across the state are discussing the need for transparency. But Sen. Scott Sifton is looking to take it a step further.
The Democratic state senator from Affton is requesting that the state auditor looks into whether records from Josh Hawley’s time as attorney general and as an MU professor should be released publicly.
Discussing Sunshine Week on the Senate floor, Sifton said that one of the top responsibilities of the attorney general is to enforce the Sunshine Law.
But in his letter, Sifton noted a recent article by the Kansas City Star, which reported that Hawley “received free representation from one of the most well-connected law firms in Washington, D.C. during his 2016 campaign for attorney general in Missouri.”
“General Hawley’s political campaign paid a Washington D.C. law firm nearly $90,000 to help keep his public records out of public view,” Sifton said. “This is incredibly troubling. The Attorney General’s job is to enforce the Sunshine Law, not evade it. The people of Missouri deserve to know whether or not the Attorney General is following the Sunshine Law.”
The Sunshine request in question comes from the primary race between Hawley and fellow Republican Kurt Schaefer, and stems from a request for two years of Hawley’s emails, internal correspondence about the attorney general’s race and his tenure status, and documents on his work computer.
As such, Sifton requested that the State Auditor’s Office investigate the matter and determine whether records are required to be released under the Sunshine Law.
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Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
