'Attention-grabbing. Do-nothing': Missouri attorney torches Josh Hawley for his pseudo concerns about abused children

A Missouri attorney is torching Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) for his pseudo concern about abused children in his state. In a blistering op-ed published by The Kansas City Star, attorney Rebecca Randles called out the Republican lawmaker for dropping the ball on an investigation that may have impacted the lives of many abused children.

The op-ed began with a brief comparison of Hawley and newly-confirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom Hawley strongly opposed. Noting that both individuals have had to make professional decisions that impact the lives of others, Randles explained how Hawley failed to hold up his end of that bargain.

"Her black garment is a metaphor for the difficult decisions she has made that impact the lives of others," Randles wrote in reference to Jackson. "Sen. Josh Hawley’s decisions also impact the lives of others. His garment, however, should be a lime green leisure suit on a hanger. He attracts a lot of attention; he’s loud; he makes a lot of statements. But he doesn’t do anything."

After offering a brief overview of Hawley's unfavorable actions amid Trump's post-election legal battle, she weighed in on the lawmaker's "political shenanigans."

"Hawley’s political shenanigans obscure the truth about victimization. He has introduced legislation about pornography, but only in concert with his bashing of the first Black woman to be nominated to the Supreme Court," she wrote. "When he grilled Jackson on her sentencing of an 18-year-old in a child pornography possession case, he was winking at QAnon true believers’ delusions about fictional networks of celebrity and politician pedophiles. However, Hawley ignores his own failure to protect sexually abused children who are very real."

Randles recalled the 2018 Pennsylvania child abuse case that opened the door for her office's Missouri investigation. At the time, Hawley was the attorney general, but according to Randles, he took very little interest in the case. "On review, my law partners and I found that Missouri had even more," she wrote. "Where was the then-attorney general’s outrage?"

Her office had appealed to Hawley to take action and although he agreed to do so, he abandoned the agreement when he moved on to the Senate and made no effort to express any other concerns about the investigation.

"After we challenged Hawley in letters, through advocacy organizations, and in press conferences, he agreed to investigate priests who had abused children," Randles added. "Then he left for the Senate, having done nothing. He left the so-called 'investigation' to his successor. He did not contact our clients (we have had hundreds). He did not contact us for information, and he did not make any kind of report regarding these abuses."

The op-ed concluded with a blistering statement saying, "Loud. Attention-grabbing. Do-nothing. A lime green leisure suit on a hanger. We challenge Sen. Hawley to take a fresh look at the crimes against children committed in his own state, including allegations against elected officials in his own party, and actually do something to protect kids."