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McCaskill campaign claims hidden camera video is fraud, demands investigation with Hawley recusing himself

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Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill’s campaign claims the right-leaning Project Veritas committed fraud in its production of hidden camera video of her and her staff.

Campaign manager David Kirby Wednesday called on the state Attorney General’s office to investigate the activities as a violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.

Kirby said Attorney General Josh Hawley should recuse himself from the probe because as McCaskill’s Republican challenger in the Senate race, he’s celebrated and circulated the videos in campaign emails.

Kirby further stated that a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate the allegations and noted the McCaskill campaign had retained an attorney.

Hawley quickly responded, saying that if McCaskill had any evidence of a crime to please come forward with it immediately, otherwise stop politicizing the legal process for political gain.  Hawley also referenced the hidden camera videos, stating that McCaskill and her staff had been caught on tape telling the truth.

The secret video attempts to portray McCaskill as more liberal than her campaign implies through hidden camera recordings of her acknowledging her preference for gun laws and through footage of her staff embracing former President Barack Obama.

Campaign staff also appear in the hidden camera footage erroneously claiming that Planned Parenthood did not support her campaign.  The organization has contributed to McCaskill’s campaign.

The videos were orchestrated by Project Veritas head James O’Keefe, who is known for his right-leaning hidden-camera-style investigations.

Kirby mentioned two people close to Hawley he said had previous knowledge of the video.  One is conservative St. Louis radio talk show host and former state Republican Party chairman Ed Martin, who Kirby said is prominently featured in the video.  The other is St. Louis based Republican operative Gregg Keller.

Keller said he had nothing to do with the production and distribution of the video, but wished he had.

Kirby claimed the hidden camera video was captured under false pretenses and misrepresentations, which he said is fraud under Missouri law and a violation of the state Merchandising Practices Act.  He also said the campaign believes other legal violations occurred that are outside the scope of the attorney general’s office that may be pursued with the attorney the campaign retained.

McCaskill’s campaign backed off a Tuesday night statement implying that Hawley had played a role in fraudulently embedding someone on her staff.  Kirby wouldn’t specify that Hawley took part in any alleged illegal activity but knew of its illicit nature and actively promoted it.  He said, “That’s a question for Josh Hawley. What did he know? When did he know it.”

Kirby went on to say that the campaign has knowledge of when the fraudulently embedded person may have been functioning on behalf of Project Veritas.

He said Hawley, as attorney general, had failed to identify a fraudulent act, but instead had engaged in “gutter politics”

Hawley was a guest Wednesday night on the conservative Fox News cable TV show Hannity, the same outlet where the Project Veritas video first appeared in front of a wide audience.

The Republican challenger continued to attack McCaskill as misrepresenting herself as a moderate while host Sean Hannity said the video exposed her bragging about being anti-second amendment and lying to Missouri residents after embracing the policies of former Democratic President Obama.

Hawley appeared on the program with Arizona Republican Congresswoman and Senate candidate Martha McSally.

McCaskill and Hawley are locked in a tight battle for U.S. Senate seat that could determine which party controls the chamber after November’s election.

 

Missouri State Auditor candidate addresses her legal and financial issues

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The Republican candidate for State Auditor has had a rocky campaign due to some past legal and financial troubles. Saundra McDowell tells Missourinet affiliate KSSZ in Columbia that she went to court over a house she and her husband leased in Springfield.

Missouri State Auditor candidate addresses her legal and financial issues

“The furniture was included in that contract,” McDowell says. “We tacked on, I think, almost $50,000 for the furniture of the house. After we moved in about two months in, we found out that the owners didn’t have good title to the furniture.”

McDowell says they tried to renegotiate the contract. According to McDowell, the owners assured her they had good title to the furniture.

“We could see in the case that was filed by the person that said that they had title to it, there was a lien put on the furniture that they had title to it. We asked them to produce documents and they couldn’t do it,” she says.

McDowell and her husband, who have both practiced law, lost their case.

“I think that was a terrible decision by the judge. We had babies at the time all in diapers. It was just very stressful to go through that whole ordeal. So, we decided just to pay the debt and not appeal it,” she says.

After losing the court battle, McDowell says she offered a lump sum payment but is required to instead have her wages garnished with interest.

“It was a case that we lost based on a real estate contract,” she says. “As I’ve been talking to so many people across this state, I’ve realized how many people have had real estate issues that are similar to this. I understand. I believe I’ve been defrauded. As a victim of fraud, I can understand how the people feel.”

Democratic State Auditor Nicole Galloway, who is running against McDowell, has said McDowell cannot manage her own money, let alone audit the state’s finances. Galloway was appointed in 2015 to replace the late Republican Auditor Tom Schweich.

McDowell’s residency status has also been questioned. Missouri law requires the Auditor to be a resident of the state for at least 10 years. Based on her research of Missouri case law, she contends she would win on “intent”.

“I placed my foot in Missouri more than ten years before the election,” she says. “We got engaged, we got married, we took the Missouri bar, everything in Missouri. We got married at Washington University Chapel and then moved back to Missouri.”

She cites other residency challenges, including former Governor and State Auditor Kit Bond and former State Auditor James Antonio. Both Bond and Antonio won their cases.

Missouri’s midterm election is November 6.

Listen to the entire interview below:

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McCaskill and Hawley to debate again Thursday in St. Louis

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Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill and GOP Senate nominee Josh Hawley will debate Thursday night in St. Louis.

The debate will be moderated by PBS Newshour’s Judy Woodruff, and there will be a live studio audience of Missourians at the KETC-TV studios. There will be questions from the audience and questions from social media, which will allow Missourians to participate.

The “Missouri 2018 Senate Debate” is being presented by Nine Network (KETC), St. Louis Public Radio and KSDK Channel 5. KETC is St. Louis’ PBS affiliate.

Thursday night’s debate begins at 7, and the election is November 6.

Some analysts believe Missouri’s McCaskill-Hawley race could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate in January.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

McCaskill responds to right leaning group’s hidden camera effort to target her

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A video by a team known as Project Veritas has been attempting to expose Missouri’s Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill as more liberal than her campaign implies. Veritas is led by James O’Keefe, who may be best known for his right-leaning hidden-camera-style investigations. Two of his high profile projects aimed to discredit ACORN, the former low-income advocacy organization, and Planned Parenthood.

Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill speaks to reporters at Missouri Farm Bureau headquarters in Jefferson City on August 10, 2018 (file photo from Jason Taylor)

This week, O’Keefe, who is a self-described guerilla journalist, targeted McCaskill, who is in a tight re-election fight against Republican challenger and state Attorney General Josh Hawley. O’Keefe’s organization claims it has video of McCaskill revealing more liberal positions on policy issues than she’s expressed to the public.  The footage was featured on the conservative cable TV program “Hannity” Monday night.

McCaskill was interviewed Tuesday in Springfield, where she countered that she’s always been transparent about her views and said Veritas was trying to dupe her into making insincere comments.

“’I’ve been very upfront about all my positions,” McCaskill told KOLR-TV. “In fact, now I remember that very individual talking to me, trying to get me to say, trying to get me to tell him to say something different than what my positions are. And I said ‘No, you’re just going to tell the people in the doors it is what it is,” she said.

The Veritas video attempts to reveal McCaskill and her staff hiding her views on guns and former President Obama from Missouri voters.

The two-term Senator said her preference for gun safety is well known and expressed dismay over the tactics used by Veritas.

“I’ve made no secret that I think we can support the second amendment, and universal background checks, and banning bump stocks. My gun record is out in the open for everyone to see. What’s really telling about this is how far they’re willing to go to fraudulently embed somebody in my campaign,” said McCaskill. “That’s startling. I’ve never seen that in a U.S. Senate campaign before in the state of Missouri.”

The impact the video footage will have on McCaskill’s re-election is unclear.

After the footage ran on conservative cable news network Fox News Monday night, Hawley featured the Veritas video in a campaign email.

McCaskill and Hawley are locked in a statistical tie in the Senate race that’s drawn nearly $50 million in spending from outside groups, the most of any political contest in the midterm election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed to this report

Missouri’s proposed gas tax increase receives support from business and labor (AUDIO)

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Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe told business leaders in Columbia on Tuesday that a proposed gasoline tax increase is receiving bipartisan support.

Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe addresses the Columbia Chamber of Commerce about Proposition D on October 16, 2018 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

Missourians will be casting ballots in November on Proposition D, which is a ten-cent gasoline tax increase.

Kehoe delivered a presentation to the Columbia Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, noting the measure has support from groups ranging from the Teamsters Union to the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. He says roads are not a Democratic or Republican issue.

“Trying to keep our roads safe and trying to make sure our bridges are intact for our school buses and families to drive over, that’s a non-partisan issue,” Kehoe says.

Governor Mike Parson, a Republican and U.S. Sens. Claire McCaskill, D, and Roy Blunt, R, are among leaders in both parties supporting Proposition D.

If approved, the tax increase would be phased in over four years, at 2.5 cents annually. Kehoe says Proposition D would mean more than $2 billion in new state funding for roads and bridges.

He says there’s a contractor in southwest Missouri’s Joplin who goes to Texas and Arkansas to work because there aren’t enough projects in the Show-Me State.

“The estimate is after full funding in ten years it puts about an additional 20,000 Missourians to work,” says Kehoe. “And those are the people you go to church with, those are the people you see in the grocery store.”

Missouri’s 17-cent gasoline tax has remained the same since 1996. Proposition D supporters say that because of inflation, the 17-cent gasoline tax is worth just seven cents of the value it had 22 years ago.

Proposition D would also establish an “emergency state freight bottleneck fund”. Columbia Chamber of Commerce President Matt McCormick notes the bottleneck fund would address locations like heavily-congested I-70 and Highway 63 in Columbia.

“It is a massive bottleneck in our community and it’s probably one of the worst, I would say it’s probably one of the worst on I-70 right now,” McCormick says.

Traffic is especially heavy on I-70 and Highway 63 during morning and afternoon rush-hour traffic and during Mizzou football Saturdays.

Kehoe tells the audience there’s also a major bottleneck at Interstates 70 and 64, near Wentzville.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna says Proposition D is crucial for Missouri, adding that MoDOT has about $8 billion in unfunded needs.

The Columbia Chamber of Commerce has endorsed Proposition D.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, which was recorded on October 16, 2018 at the Drury Plaza Hotel Columbia East:

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McCaskill out-raising and spending Hawley by big margin in Missouri Senate race

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Missouri’s incumbent Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill outraised Republican challenger Josh Hawley by a roughly 4-to-1 margin in the latest required filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

In contributions for the entire election cycle for the hotly contested race, McCaskill has taken in $27.6 million versus about $7.4 million for Hawley.  In her filing late Monday afternoon, McCaskill reported total receipts of just below $31 million compared to Hawley’s $8.5 million.

McCaskill also far outraised Hawley in contributions for the latest reporting period from mid-July through the end of September.  The two-term Senator took in $7.1 million versus $2.6 million for Hawley.

Because McCaskill has also vastly outspent Hawley, the challenger has several hundred thousand dollars more cash-on-hand – $3.5 million compared to $3.2 million.

McCaskill has spent $11.2 million over the last two-and-a-half month reporting period while Hawley has paid out roughly $2 million, a greater than 5-to-1 margin.  Over the course of the campaign, McCaskill has similarly dwarfed Hawley’s expenditures – $28 million-to-$5 million.

The Center for Responsive Politics, which reports outside money, has tagged Missouri’s total at nearly $48 million for the Senate race, with a roughly even split for both sides.

The overwhelming majority of outside money is spent against rather than for candidates because the groups, Political Action Committees, can spend unlimited sums as long as they don’t coordinate with a candidate or political party.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Missouri Senate race leads all contests in outside money, followed by Senate races in Florida, Indiana, Nevada and Arizona.  Besides Missouri, only the Florida race has topped the $40 million mark in outside money at $42.5 million.

McCaskill estimated there would be $70-80 million in outside money spent on the Missouri contest.  Such groups could see a reason to keep money flowing into the race, which polls have shown to be in a statistical tie with three weeks left until the November election.

The next deadline for candidates to file with the Federal Election Commission is next Thursday, October 25th.

Minimum wage ballot measure among the big contests in upcoming election

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Missouri voters will have a chance to raise the state’s minimum wage in November’s election.  The measure – Proposition B – would hike minimum pay gradually for five years and top out at $12.00 per hour in 2023.

The current minimum wage in Missouri is $7.85, which is higher than the federal minimum of $7.25.  Since 2006, the state wage has been tied to annual changes in the Consumer Price Index and has increased $0.15 from 2016 and $1.20 since 2008.

Boosting minimum pay any faster will require a change from the legislature or through a ballot measure.  The Republican-dominated General Assembly has moved in the opposite direction, however, passing a bill to squash local wage hikes in 2017.  The measure preempted a city ordinance in St. Louis that would have set wages at $11.00 this year.  It also prevented an increase to $15.00 by 2022 in Kansas City that city voters had approved by a 75% margin.

Minimum wage ballot measures have had mixed results in Missouri.  In 1996, more than 71% of voters rejected Proposition A, that would have increased the state wage from $4.25 in 1996 to $6.25 in 1997 and an additional $0.15 each year thereafter.  But Proposition B in 2006 was approved by a 76% margin.  It increased minimum pay from $5.15 in 2006 to $6.50 in 2007 and ushered in the Consumer Price Index adjustment.

There’s only been scattered polling on Proposition B, although a Missouri Scout survey from early August showed strong support with 60% of likely voters in favor of its passage while 28% opposed it.

Between the two candidates in Missouri’s marquee Senate race,  Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill supports the ballot measure while Republican challenger Josh Hawley has said it might result in lost jobs.

Tony Wyche is with Raise Up Missouri, the campaign committee supporting Proposition B.  He says Missouri’s minimum wage, which adds up to $314 for a 40-hour work week, is unsustainable for most people.  “The cost of everything from food, shelter, clothing, transportation has gone up and wages haven’t kept pace,” said Wyche.  “And that’s what this really is all about.  It’s making sure that people who work fulltime are able to provide for their families and take care of their families just like everybody else who works hard is able to do.”

Patrick Toohey with the St. Louis based free-market group Show-Me Institute contends that raising the minimum wage is the least effective way to raise people out of poverty.  “Even President Obama’s chair of the Economic Advisory Panel said that if we want to fight poverty, minimum wage legislation is a really bad way to do that,” said Toohey.

Toohey points to a study conducted by the Show-Me Institute that actually shows hiking minimum pay primarily benefits middle-income households rather than low-income people because the larger percentage of minimum wage workers are members of middle-income families.

In data compiled for the study, only 12.7 percent of workers earning a wage less than $7.25 were in poor families, while 44.6 percent — or nearly half, which Show-Me Institute contends are likely teenagers or other secondary workers — were in families with incomes three times the poverty line (or approximately $63,000 in 2008 for a family of four) or higher.

Toohey contends there are too many negative factors that stack up against any sort of minimum pay increase, and further points out a 2015 study which shows that hiking minimum pay hurts first-time job seekers.

Still, there are plenty of studies showing how minimum wage doesn’t have the perceived negative impact on jobs or the economy. One study from UC Berkeley researchers, suggests that California will actually gain jobs because of its minimum wage hike by 2023.

A 2011 study, “The Spending and Debt Responses to Minimum Wage Increases” by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago stated that “every dollar increase in the minimum wage results in $2,800 in new consumer spending per household over the following year.”

According to Raise Up Missouri’s Wyche, 460,000 residents who live outside the metro St. Louis and Kansas City areas make minimum wage.  He contends business owners also benefit when they pay their workers more money.  “They know that it’s better for their bottom line,” said Wyche.  “It helps them retain employees who are happier and more loyal.  They don’t have to go through all the staff turnover and retraining costs.  And it makes for a better work environment overall in their establishments.”

Missouri Business for Fair Minimum Wage is part of a national group that advocates for hikes in minimum pay across the country.  It’s been supporting Proposition B along with Raise Up Missouri.

$1.74 million has been donated to Raise Up Missouri for Proposition B.  A majority of that sum, $1 million, has come from Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit 501 (c) (4) organization that is not required to disclose the name and address of any contributors.  As of October 4, Raise Up Missouri had spent $1.08 million.

 

St. Louis area Democratic officeholders slam Missouri AG’s appeal of voter ID law decision

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Some Missouri Democratic officeholders held a press conference Monday in which they sharply criticized Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley’s court filing to block a judge’s decision striking portions of Missouri’s voter ID law.  St. Louis-based U.S. Congressman William Lacy Clay joined State Senator Minority Leader Gina Walsh of Bellefontaine Neighbors, and Senator-elect Brian Williams of Ferguson at the gathering in St. Louis.

Congressman Lacy Clay (D-St. Louis)

Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan’s decision issued last Wednesday does away with the requirement for those who don’t present a photo ID at the polls to sign an affidavit.  Representative Lacy Clay told Missourinet that the ruling returns the law to its original form where voters could show a utility bill, bank statement or anything that’s verifies their address and cast a regular ballot.

He said the Republican-led state legislature failed to consider how low voter turnout is when it passed legislation aimed at making the practice more difficult.  “In presidential elections, only 50 percent of the American people show up to vote, said Lacy Clay.  “So, this is just a canard.  This is just a way to suppress people from voting.”  The eight-term Congressman thinks the law the state legislature passed was intended to prevent voter impersonation which he contends never happens, given the existing low turnout.

Attorney General Hawley quickly filed an appeal and emergency stay petition with the Missouri Supreme Court on behalf of Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft.  Ashcroft based much of his 2016 election campaign on implementing the voter ID law passed earlier that year by lawmakers.  Last Thursday, the Supreme Court requested that the prevailing party in the circuit court case, Priorities USA, submit suggestions in opposition to the motion for the stay by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

In his decision striking the requirement for those without photo ID to sign the affidavit, Judge Callahan said the document, on its face, is contradictory and misleading.

The affidavit says the voter acknowledges that he or she doesn’t possess a photo ID and states that he or she is required to present approved photo ID in order to vote.  It also specifies that the person signing the document does so under penalty of perjury.

Callahan called the affidavit an “outright misstatement of law.”  He said the requirement for a voter to sign the document is a violation of a citizen’s right to vote that’s guaranteed under the Missouri Constitution.

Congressman Clay said the 2016 legislation by Missouri lawmakers is part of a concerted effort across the nation by the GOP to keep certain types of residents from voting.  “I see this as an overall attempt nationally to suppress the vote, to impede or block those voters who the Republican Party knows will probably not vote for them,” Clay said.

University of Wisconsin Political Scientist Kenneth Mayer offered expert testimony for the plaintiff, Priorities USA, in the court case.  Mayer said extensive research in the numerous states that have enacted voter ID laws since 2006 shows the statutes suppress turnout and disproportionally impact poor people, minorities and the elderly. “Vulnerable populations are less likely to possess the most common forms of ID and are in less of a position to completely understand and be able to comply with what amount to complicated administrative requirements,” Mayer said.

Congressman Clay views Attorney General Hawley’s court filing is a misuse of public funds in an 11th-hour effort to suppress voter turnout.  “Josh Hawley is choosing to use your tax dollars to file this ridiculous appeal in a last-minute effort to disenfranchise thousands of Missouri voters,” Clay said.

Hawley is also locked in a tight race for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Claire McCaskill.

His office representing his position as Attorney General didn’t directly respond to Congressman Lacy Clay’s comments, but his spokesperson, Mary Compton defended his Supreme Court filing.  She said the lower court’s decision will harm the integrity of the November election while referencing a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2016 which enabled the law approved by the legislature to be implemented.

“We respectfully disagree with the Circuit Court’s decision and we are deeply concerned that issuing an injunction this close to an election will cause confusion and disruption in the orderly administration of election procedures,” said Compton.  “We have promptly sought a stay of the ruling and requested clarification from the Missouri Supreme Court to preserve the integrity of the upcoming election. We will continue vigorously defend the commonsense voter ID law that 63% of Missourians approved in 2016.”

In addition to doing away with the affidavit, Circuit Court Judge Callahan’s ruling places other restrictions on the Secretary of State’s office.  It also forbids the state from advertising or distributing information that photo ID’s are required to vote.  It further bars publicizing materials that tell voters they’ll be asked to show photo ID without stipulating the other forms of ID that can be used.

MoDOT Director: Nets used on I-270 to keep bridge pieces from falling on cars and people (AUDIO)

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The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) director says the agency is using nets on heavily-traveled I-270 in St. Louis County, to keep pieces of bridges from falling and hitting people and vehicles below. MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna made the announcement about the nets during last week’s meeting with planning partners in Jefferson City.

This is a photo of the nets being used by MoDOT at I-270 and Florissant Road, to keep pieces of bridges from falling off (photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Transportation)

“It’s one of the oldest segments of our interstate system,” McKenna says. “It’s in desperate need of repair. We need to be working on that. We need to be working on it soon.”

I-270 loops around St. Louis, and connects with I-70, I-64, I-44 and I-55. McKenna describes I-270 as an “incredibly important aspect” to the region, Missouri and the nation. He says about $700 billion in products are moved on that highway annually.

“The age and condition of that infrastructure, on a given day we can have 140, 150,000 vehicles a day on that, and probably 25, 30% of that is commercial vehicles,” says McKenna.

He says passage of a ten-cent gasoline tax on the November ballot is crucial. Missouri’s gasoline tax hasn’t been increased since 1996. Missourians will cast ballots on Proposition D on November 6.

Missouri’s 21st century transportation system task force submitted a report to the Legislature in January, and recommended improvements on 270.

Click here to listen to Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna’s full interview with Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and KY-3 reporter Andrew Havranek, which was recorded on October 9, 2018 at Jefferson City’s McClung Park:

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Hawley plays up Supreme Court confirmation process on Meet The Press

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Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley appeared on Meet The Press Sunday where he said the election would be based on the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation. Hawley reiterated his claim that Democrats launched a smear campaign against nominee Brett Kavanaugh and said Missouri voters would be motivated by the proceedings.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley speaks to reporters at Missouri Farm Bureau headquarters in Jefferson City on August 10, 2018 (file photo from Jason Taylor)

Kavanaugh’s confirmation was complicated by several accusations of sexual misconduct against him dating back to his high school and college days.  The now sitting associate justice subsequently gave a politically-charged testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Hawley said there is a presence of mob behavior around the country in the aftermath of Kavanaugh’s confirmation that is motivating Missouri voters who disapprove of the conduct.  He also stated his opponent, incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill, was responsible for the spiraling costs of healthcare which he pegged at 145%.

“I’ve had family after family in this state come up to me and say, ‘Look we can’t afford our health insurance.  We’re having to get a second job, send a spouse back to work.’  It shouldn’t have to be that way,” said Hawley.  “It is that way because of Senator McCaskill.”

Hawley said that as a Senator he’d vote to repeal and replace “Obamacare” with a mandate to preserve coverage for preexisting conditions.  Meet The Press moderator Chuck Todd noted that Hawley, as Missouri Attorney General, has joined a lawsuit to overturn the current Affordable Care Act health care law, which would include the discontinuation of coverage for preexisting conditions.

Hawley has said numerous times that he still favors preserving preexisting conditions, often mentioning that one of his children suffers from one.  His son Elijah has a degenerative bone disease affecting his hip.  The candidate told Todd he thinks it would be constitutional for Congress to pass a requirement that preexisting conditions be covered.

“Absolutely, I do,” Hawley said.  “What’s not constitutional is the requirement that people buy health insurance they don’t want.  But it’s absolutely constitutional to say that insurers have to cover people with preexisting conditions.  Congress should mandate it.”

The GOP-led Congress repealed the requirement to purchase health insurance as part of a massive tax overhaul package it approved in late 2017.  The repeal of the individual mandate provided more than $300 billion in savings for Republicans to use to help pay for the tax bill.  Previously, individuals were required to buy health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

Moderator Todd then played a clip of Hawley’s 2016 ad claiming he wouldn’t climb a ladder as other politicians have to a higher office.  He asked Hawley, who’s running for the Senate two years after being elected state Attorney General, what he would now say to himself.  Hawley said it was his calling to seek the office in a fight against those with a differing agenda, including efforts to block Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

“You could see it with the hearings of Justice Kavanaugh,” said Hawley.  “You can see it with what we’re seeing out on the streets now.  The future of this country and our way of life here is at stake.  And it’s incumbent on all of us to do all that we can.  I’m trying to do my part to make sure that we fight for the future of this country and fight for Missouri.  Claire McCaskill has not, but I will.”

At 3:47, Hawley’s appearance was the shortest interview Sunday on Meet The Press.  Todd spent noticeably more time with Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams and largely focused the program on missing Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Hawley and McCaskill are locked in a razor-tight race for the Senate seat McCaskill has occupied for two six-year terms.  All polls have indicated the two are in a statistical tie leading up to the election November 6th.

Separately, several Democrats are holding a press conference Monday to address Hawley’s recent action as Missouri’s Attorney General to appeal a court decision last week that struck down key elements of a 2016 state voter ID law.  Congressman Lacy Clay, State Senator Gina Walsh of Bellefontaine Neighbors and State Senator-elect Brian Williams contend the ruling clarified “contradictory and misleading” components of the law.

Missouri’s Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who based his 2016 election campaign on the voter ID law, publicly thanked Hawley’s office for working quickly to file an appeal and emergency stay of the circuit court judge’s decision to the state Supreme Court.  The high bench is now considering the action.

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