Andrew Bailey as he took office as Missouri state attorney general in January, 2023.
Brian Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio
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Brian Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio
In under three years, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey built a track record for using his office to oppose abortion even though voters supported it, filing lawsuits on culture-war issues and defending Donald Trump.
Bailey was named a couple weeks ago to be a co-deputy director at the FBI and is expected to take office Monday. “My life has been defined by a call to service, and I am once again answering that call, this time at the national level,” he said in accepting the post. He resigns his state position effective Monday.
He’ll be stepping into the FBI as it faces heavy turnover under President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi. The agency faces accusations by Democrats of abusing its powers to punish Trump opponents and even some Republicans say it has mishandled information about the case of convicted trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
A decorated Iraq war veteran, the 44-year-old Bailey saw a fast political rise including roles as a prosecutor and as a counsel to a Republican governor. He was appointed attorney general in 2023 and won re-election in 2024.
A fast rise and quick attention
Early in office Bailey took on local elected officials, trying to oust St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner for mismanagement — Gardner resigned — and St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery from office, an effort that’s still pending.
Bailey also gained nationwide attention when he sued Starbucks and IBM for their racial diversity…