Missouri Democrats Create Alternative 'News' Site to Boost McCaskill

State Democrats launch 'The Missouri Download' to bash Josh Hawley

The Missouri Democratic Party quietly launched its own "news" website this year to pump up Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) and bash Republicans ahead of her reelection fight.

The website, The Missouri Download, launched on March 1 and posted just five stories in its first two months, all targeting McCaskill's top Republican opponent, Missouri attorney general Josh Hawley.

The party appears to be hiding its involvement in the site as best it can while staying within legal parameters.

The launch of Missouri Download was not announced by the Missouri Democrats and is yet to be mentioned on its main website or its Twitter account. There is a miniscule disclosure of the party's involvement on the bottom of the page, written in size 5.5 font, and contained in a box about a quarter of the size of the disclosure box on the party's actual home page. (The disclosures on The Missouri Download and the Missouri Democrats websites can be seen highlighted in red in the screenshot below. Click here to see enlarged version.)

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