GOP attorney general candidate calls for end to 'culture of corruption'

Missouri Republican attorney general candidate Joshua Hawley wants to restrict or ban state lawmakers from accepting gifts from lobbyists and put an end to what he calls “the revolving door” that allows legislators to immediately become lobbyists.

“The combination is just toxic,” he said during a campaign stop in Cape Girardeau on Tuesday. “I am for a very restrictive or outright ban on gifts.”

Currently, state representatives and state senators are free to take an unlimited number of gifts, with no limit on the value of those gifts, he pointed out.

“I think the attorney general has to work on cleaning up the culture of corruption in the state of Missouri,” he said.

Hawley, who lives near Columbia, Missouri, said many state lawmakers are honest people. But he said, “It only takes a few bad apples to reflect badly on everybody else.”

If elected attorney general, Hawley said he would seek “vigorous enforcement of the sunshine law.” He said it is important to make sure government meetings and public records are kept open.

Hawley said it is wrong state lawmakers have exempted themselves and their staff from the open-records/open-meetings law. As a result, the public has no access to emails of lawmakers’ and their staffs, he said.

“To me, this is part of the broader issue of cleaning up state government,” Hawley said.

A constitutional attorney who has litigated cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, Hawley said he has fought for religious liberty and against various federal regulations.

Hawley criticized Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster for “not being part of the fight against the unprecedented overreach of the federal government.” He said that overreach involves everything from the Affordable Care Act to Environmental Protection Agency regulations and immigration policies.

Other states’ attorneys general have filed suit against the federal government, he said, adding they provide the “most effective” way to resist federal regulations.

“That is why I am running for this office,” Hawley said.

The candidate supports Missouri’s stand-your-ground law that allows people to use deadly force to protect themselves form a serious or fatal injury or against a forcible felony.

State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, a Republican from Columbia, who also is running for attorney general, has proposed expanding Missouri’s “stand-your-ground” law to make it easier for people to use deadly force in self-defense. The senator’s bill would eliminate the duty to retreat for people who are in public places or on property where they are legally permitted.

Hawley said the measure would not make any major change to the stand-your-ground law, and strengthening the concealed-carry law would provide a bigger deterrent to violence.

Hawley favors expanding Missouri’s concealed-carry law to allow students and staff to carry weapons on college campuses. He argued such a move would make campuses safer by decreasing the risk of violence.

Hawley said “for 24 years, we have had the office (of attorney general) occupied by politicians” who use it as a stepping-stone for another political office.

“It is time to elect a constitutional lawyer,” he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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