Bailey’s short tenure as attorney general was defined by confrontation with the federal government and local officials, as well as accusations of corruption, incompetence and grandstanding
By: Jason Hancock
Missouri Independent
Missouri will need a new attorney general for the third time in six years as Andrew Bailey announced on Monday that he plans to step down to become co-deputy director of the FBI.
“My life has been defined by a call to service, and I am once again answering that call, this time at the national level,” Bailey said in a news release announcing his departure. “But wherever I am called, Missouri is and always will be home.”
Bailey was appointed attorney general in 2022 after Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate. Schmitt got the job in 2018, replacing another Republican who won a Senate seat, Josh Hawley.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe will name his replacement at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The new attorney general will then serve until Bailey’s current term expires in 2028. Bailey said his last day in office will be Sept. 8.
Bailey had never run for public office before former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson tapped him to replace Schmitt in 2022. At the time, he was serving as Parson’s general counsel. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County and as an assistant attorney general.
Weeks after being elected to full four-year term last year, Bailey was vying to be President Donald Trump’s new attorney general or FBI director. He will now join the FBI as it faces a torrent of criticism from across the political spectrum over the Trump administration’s refusal to release government files on the late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
His short stint as Missouri’s attorney general was largely defined by confrontation — lawsuits against the federal government, investigations of health care providers and public fights with other statewide elected Republicans.
Bailey’s most high-profile cases since becoming attorney general included twice suing to block federal student loan forgiveness and carrying forward an unsuccessful lawsuit alleging the Biden administration was colluding with social media companies to censor conservative speech.
His office is also involved in four different lawsuits regarding medical records of transgender children — part of his effort to end gender-affirming care in Missouri.
The attorney general’s office under Bailey helped force St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner out of office and is pursuing felony charges against St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.
Bailey has also been unflinchingly loyal to Trump, including publicly endorsing the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and unsuccessfully attempting to intervene in the criminal case against him in New York that resulted in 34 felony convictions.
But Bailey’s tenure as attorney general has also been marked by accusations of corruption, incompetence and grandstanding, with his critics alleging he’s more interested in scoring appearances on Fox News than effectively running the sprawling office or winning in the courtroom.
Among the many lawsuits Bailey inherited from his predecessor was a case against Missouri school districts that implemented mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. After a judge ruled in support of the school boards, Bailey’s office missed its deadline to appeal.
Last summer, he narrowly avoided being questioned under oath about his contact with a defendant in his own case against Jackson County. One of Bailey’s deputies lost his license because of the meetings, according to a filing from the county’s attorneys.
Bailey was also the focus of a formal complaint about the behavior of his office after he falsely blamed the Hazelwood School District’s diversity, equity and inclusion program for the off-campus assault of a student.
He’s also faced criticism over his contributions to his campaign.
Bailey recused himself from a gambling lawsuit filed against the Missouri State Highway Patrol after PACs connected to the lobbyist of the companies suing the state wrote checks to the committee supporting his campaign.
He raised eyebrows after accepting $50,000 in campaign donations from Doe Run, a St. Louis-based company being sued by thousands of Peruvians over allegations of lead smelter poisoning in their mining town in the Andes. A few months before the donation, Bailey filed a brief asking the federal court to move the lawsuit out of Missouri.