Catherine Hanaway says she's found her new role as attorney general much different than her other high-profile public service posts.
Unlike her tenure as Missouri speaker of the House or U.S. attorney, Hanaway said, leading the high-profile statewide office means that the buck "pretty much stops with me." That means the GOP official will set the agenda for the office and oversee litigation that could impact the state's policy and political future for years to come.
"Now, obviously I want to coordinate and work with the governor and his team, and we represent all the departments of the state, and so those relationships are extremely important," Hanaway said during an episode of The Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air. "But the final decision usually lies with me."
Gov. Mike Kehoe appointed Hanaway to succeed Andrew Bailey, who resigned as attorney general to become the co-deputy director of the FBI. She became the first woman to serve as Missouri speaker of the House in 2003. And she was named U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri in 2005.
Hanaway said she'd "be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn," adding that with the exception of an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2016, she wasn't "consumed" by the political world.
"I don't know the people the way that I did previously, and am still sort of learning the nomenclature," Hanaway said. "I've always been a conservative. I think that this is a great evolution of the conservative movement. The things that the president is accomplishing are unlike a pace that we've seen from any other president. And so, as I said, the learning curve is steep."
Several of Hanaway's predecessors have spent a lot of their time wading into federal issues. Bailey, for instance, sued the State of New York after a jury there found Donald Trump guilty of falsifying business records.
Asked if she would also emphasize federal issues while in office, Hanaway said, "I'm going to be laser focused on making sure that we uphold the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States and that we protect Missourians from anyone who would do them harm.
"That's really the agenda," Hanaway said. "And that will mean that there are times when we participate, either taking the lead or alongside other attorneys general around the country. There will also be a much bigger emphasis on things like consumer fraud, Medicaid fraud, telemarketers, who would rip people off."
Abortion and redistricting cases loom large
Hanaway will oversee high-stakes lawsuits to restrict abortion and to protect a newly passed congressional map.
After Missourians approved what's known as Amendment 3 last year that enshrined protections for abortion rights, judges have temporarily struck down a number of restrictions – including a near-total ban on the procedure and licensing requirements for clinics.
Hanaway said the big question going forward is how expansive Amendment 3 will be toward invalidating existing state statutes. She noted that a court dismissed a case challenging the state's laws requiring minors to obtain parental consent before getting an abortion.
"Did Amendment 3 legalize abortion and repeal every single restriction ever passed by the Missouri General Assembly? Or did it legalize abortion but some of those restrictions stayed on the books?" Hanaway said. "It's maybe a statute-by-statute basis. It's a substantial amount of litigation."
Earlier this week, Hanaway filed a lawsuit in federal court trying to prevent opponents of a new congressional map from placing the measure up for a referendum. She argued that since the Missouri Constitution did not expressly give permission to redistricting foes the right of referendum, the move is unconstitutional.
She'll also have to defend the map from multiple lawsuits, including some contending that the Missouri Constitution doesn't allow the legislature to redraw districts in the middle of the decade.
Hanaway said she's confident that courts will uphold the new map, which seeks to oust Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver from office.
"I think that it is a much more defensible map under what the Missouri Constitution says, which is, after the census, that you should draw a map that is as compact and as equal in population between districts as is possible," Hanaway said.
Hanaway supports Montgomery ouster
Hanaway said she's confident that her bid to oust St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery will prevail.
Hanaway inherited the effort to remove Montgomery from Bailey. She is arguing, among other things, that Montgomery forfeited his office after handcuffing then-acting jail Commissioner Tammy Ross and for refusing to transport prisoners for medical care. She also said he should lose his job for having deputies transport his children.
"On the one side of the ledger, he's abusing his power by using it to sort of enhance himself, and on the other side of the ledger, he's not doing the job," she said.
Hanaway has said it is impossible for Montgomery to do his job while he's in jail.
But before a federal judge ordered Montgomery jailed for bond violations, St. Louis Circuit Judge Steven Ohmer denied a request to oust him from office while he was on house arrest. He said there needs to be a trial before he can decide whether Montgomery has reached a point where he forfeited his office.
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