New report alleges illegal ad-buying coordination between NRA and Hawley Senate campaign [View all]

WASHINGTON • An online journalism organization and Mother Jones magazine reported Friday that they had obtained documents showing proof of potentially illegal campaign coordination between Sen. Josh Hawley’s 2018 campaign and the National Rifle Association.

The Republican Hawley’s 2018 campaign manager said a “firewall” had been set up to make sure there was no coordination with the gun-rights group. The Federal Election Commission has received complaints about the alleged connection.

But the Mother Jones piece, in conjunction with The Trace, an organization that describes itself as “an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom dedicated to shining a light on America’s gun violence crisis,” describes how the same person from National Media, a Virginia-based political, corporate and issue advocacy media firm, bought ads for both Hawley and the NRA in Missouri, and that those ads often ran in close proximity on Missouri radio stations during Hawley’s victory over former Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

“In Senate races in Missouri and Montana in 2018 and North Carolina in 2016, the gun group’s advertising blitzes on behalf of GOP candidates Josh Hawley, Matt Rosendale, and Richard Burr were authorized by the very same media consultant that the candidates themselves used — an apparent violation of laws designed to prevent independent groups from synchronizing their efforts with political campaigns,” the left-leaning Mother Jones, and The Trace, reported.

Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/new-report-alleges-illegal-ad-buying-coordination-between-nra-and/article_da164ac3-ed85-5f16-8d71-24a8d792fcee.html