A Project Veritas infiltrator filmed McCaskill and her staffers discussing the senator’s strong support for gun control measures up to and including a ban on automatic rifles. The senator, staffers said, has to mislead voters in order to win, now that her district has so many moderates and Republicans voting in it.

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McCaskill’s Republican opponent, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, is polling within half a percentage point of the five-term senator. She initially accused him of backing and publicizing the Project Veritas stunt, an accusation he called absurd.

“Please stop politicizing the legal process for your re-election,” Hawley tweeted.

Perhaps realizing she would need the cooperation of the state Attorney General in any potential legal action against Veritas, McCaskill backed off her opponent and filed a complaint to his office instead, advising he appoint a special prosecutor to investigate “possible felonies” committed by the conservative group.

David Kirby, McCaskill’s campaign manager, claimed Project Veritas committed fraud by filming the candidate and her staff “under false pretenses,” violating Missouri’s merchandising practices act. He was largely met with derision on social media.