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Hawley, the fist-raising, insurrection-supporting junior senator from Missouri, became the national face of sedition on Jan. 6, for the now infamous photo of him encouraging the mob that would go on to invade the U.S. Capitol and leave several people dead in their wake. He became persona non grata in national Republican circles, not that too many of his fellow senators liked him anyway. And even after the insurrection, he persisted with challenging the election results and pushing former President Donald Trump鈥檚 Big Lie that the election was stolen from him.

So it seemed a bit of a surprise to some recently when Hawley took in a first quarter fundraising bounty. A local donor knows how he did it.

He lied.

She knows this because she is one of the people who received one of the solicitations. 鈥淗is claims of accomplishment are as bogus as his tenure in the Senate,鈥� she wrote me, sharing the copy of the recent letter she received from Hawley鈥檚 campaign seeking donations.

It came in the form of one of those computer-created fundraising solicitations that is made to look like a hand-written letter. It鈥檚 not, of course, and most people receiving such mail understand the schtick, but that didn鈥檛 stop Hawley from playing along.

鈥淚 had to sit down and hand-write you this personal note today because I earnestly need your help,鈥� the letter reads. It seems a bit over the top to proclaim earnest intentions when the second sentence in your fundraising letter is a lie. Hawley didn鈥檛 hand-write the letter, which is sent on letterhead meant to appear to be from his Senate office.

If you get much political mail, or fundraising solicitations, you know this is all the rage. Make unsuspecting donors believe that you, the politician, really cares about them, enough to take time away from your Fox News interviews sowing sedition to write them and ask for a few dollars to help you in your campaign to vote against every single one of President Joe Biden鈥檚 nominees for his cabinet no matter how qualified they are.

The letter goes through Hawley鈥檚 career step by step over six pages, and much of it, to use the donor鈥檚 word, is bogus. Like his oft-mentioned work before the U.S. Supreme Court on the Hobby Lobby case.

鈥淲hile working for The Becket Fund, I was a lead attorney in a landmark lawsuit against ObamaCare,鈥� Hawley鈥檚 computer pretending to be him wrote in a font meant to look like earnest handwriting. This is Hawley鈥檚 favorite bogus humble brag. Yes, he participated in writing a brief for the on the Hobby Lobby case. But he wasn鈥檛 even admitted to the bar to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hawley was a bit player, which is sort of the theme of his career. He鈥檚 never actually argued a case before a jury, let alone the Supreme Court.

Then there鈥檚 the famous sex trafficking bust that elevated his ladder-climbing career. 鈥淢y efforts to crack down on human trafficking led to the biggest human trafficking bust in Missouri history.鈥�

That claim is as false as the first time he made it, but it seems so earnest in fake handwriting. In fact, the biggest human trafficking bust in Missouri history was carried out by the FBI about a year before Hawley was elected. Hawley used his private campaign consultants to set up a press event where he bragged about coordinating the raiding of some massage parlors in southwest Missouri. Not a single felony charge was filed. .

But, hey, why should a U.S. Senator let the facts get in the way of a good fundraising pitch? The pitch worked, sort of. Hawley reported raising $3 million last quarter, more than most senators, and he doesn鈥檛 face reelection until 2024. Of course, that鈥檚 only part of the story. As ProPublica reported this week, Hawley had to spend $600,000 of that haul buying mailing lists, and he relied on a marketing vendor that often takes up to 80 cents on the dollar from some fundraising pitches.

Hopefully, when the company sends the senator its bill, it will include a hand-written personal note.

That would be a nice touch.