Andrew Bailey (born 1981) is an American attorney and politician who has served as Co-Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Missouri Attorney General from 2023 to 2025.
During his tenure as attorney general, Bailey adopted hardline conservative positions. He refused to release prisoners after overturned convictions, attempted unsuccessfully to restrict gender-affirming care, battled initiatives that restored access to abortion in Missouri, and staunchly defended Donald Trump over his legal problems. Bailey was announced as co-deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 18, 2025 and was sworn on September 15.
In September 2026, Bailey announced that he would resign as the co-deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Early life and education Bailey grew up in Columbia, Missouri, and Gluckstadt, Mississippi. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Missouri while on an Army ROTC scholarship.Andrew Bailey Sworn In as Missouri's 44th Attorney General (press release) (January 9, 2023). After graduating from the University of Missouri, he was deployed to Iraq during the Iraq War.Kacen Bayless, Missouri's unelected AG has taken aggressive steps to expand power. Has he gone too far?, Kansas City Star (June 25, 2023). Bailey earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri School of Law.
Bailey was serving as general counsel of the Missouri Department of Corrections before joining the office of Governor Mike Parson as deputy general counsel. In 2021, he was appointed as Parson's general counsel.
Attorney General of Missouri (2023–2025)
In November 2022, Parson appointed Bailey as the 44th attorney general of Missouri, after his predecessor Eric Schmitt's election to the U.S. Senate. He took office on January 3, 2023. As attorney general, Bailey moved aggressively to expand his powers and used his post to pursue conservative "culture war" issues.
Throughout his term, Bailey faced a number of controversies regarding his use of power. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch maintains The Bailey Tally, "[a] running count of the many instances in which Missouri's official lawyer has abused the legal process, refused to do his job and/or engaged in blatant conflicts of interest, all in service to a right-wing agenda."
Bailey's office saw high turnover, with 1/3 of budgeted positions vacant in 2024. Staffing inconsistencies led to extreme delays for open cases and were criticized by fellow Republicans in Missouri Legislature, and were compared to Bailey's own criticisms of former St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner.
Opposition to overturning convictions and judicial response Bailey faced criticism over refusing to overturn miscarriage of justice cases, even when local prosecutors present evidence suggesting that a convicted person is in fact innocent. In the case of Sandra Hemme, who served 43 years of a life sentence prior to her sentence being overturned in June 2024, Bailey's office attempted to circumvent the order to release Hemme. On July 19, Judge Ryan Horsman threatened to hold Bailey in contempt if Hemme was not immediately released from a prison in Chillicothe following rulings by Horsman, an appellate court, and the Missouri Supreme Court. Bailey's office was scolded for telling prison officials not to release Hemme despite the ruling. "To call someone and tell them to disregard a court order is wrong," Judge Horsman said.
In July 2024, Bailey's office announced intentions to appeal and block Judge Jason Sengheiser's ruling of innocence in the case of Christopher Dunn, who served 33 years in state prison.
Bailey also blocked a request for a new evidence hearing in the case of Marcellus "Khaliifah" Williams, despite a DNA "mismatch" identified in 2015. After the trial, prosecutors admitted to excluding a potential African-American juror that Williams' attorneys alleged was due to the juror's race (prosecutors asserted it was due to the juror's close age and physical resemblance to Williams) and acknowledged evidence of crime scene contamination by the state's attorney during the trial. As a result, prosecutors reached a plea agreement with Williams to reduce his death sentence to life without parole. However, Missouri Attorney General Bailey petitioned the Missouri Supreme Court to block the agreement, and subsequently, the plea agreement was overturned. Williams was executed on September 24, 2024, despite efforts by his attorneys and the Missouri prosecutor's office to halt the execution.
Missouri law only allows people on death row to bring innocence claims before a judge. Bailey's office has opposed bipartisan bills in Missouri Legislature to expand opportunities for incarcerated people to advocate for their innocence. Advocates have observed that the office "prioritizes finality over fairness."
Abortion
Abortion in Missouri is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of 2024 Missouri Amendment 3 taking effect on December 6, 2024, 30 days after the November 5, 2024, general election.
Bailey opposes abortion. In 2023, Bailey asked the state auditor's office to change the "anticipated costs" section of a proposed ballot initiative to restore abortion rights in Missouri, which is one of several initiative petitions filed following a ban passed by the state legislature.Anna Betts, Missouri Supreme Court Allows Abortion Ballot Initiative to Move Ahead, New York Times (July 20, 2023). After Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick (a Republican) classified the initiative as having an estimated impact of "no costs or savings," Bailey sought to change the estimate to "in the billions" and later claimed that restoring abortion rights would cost "upward of $12 billion." Fitzpatrick said that while he personally opposes abortion, there is no evidence that it would cost the state money. The Supreme Court of Missouri unanimously ruled that Bailey had no authority to change the projected cost; in a July 2023 ruling, the Court wrote that Bailey improperly attempted to hold up the initiative, that his authority was to review the "legal content and form" (not the "substance") of the auditor's reports, and that Bailey had refused "to perform the plain, unequivocal and ministerial duty of approving those summaries."
In 2024, Bailey sued Planned Parenthood, accusing it of trafficking minors across state lines for abortions using a Project Veritas video as evidence. Planned Parenthood describes the video as "heavily doctored and edited"; it was found to feature a fictional girl while purporting to be factual. In 2025, Bailey's office subpoenaed Missouri Abortion Fund in the case, despite the organization having no involvement. Elad Gross, representing the group, said the move was an "abuse of government power" and an attempt to overwhelm an organization with minimal resources.
In 2024, Bailey unsuccessfully joined Kansas and Idaho attorneys general in a lawsuit seeking to reinstate FDA restrictions from year 2000 on the medication mifepristone, which induces chemical abortions. The lawsuit was previously filed by anti-abortion medical professionals and rejected by the Supreme Court for lack of Article III standing. Bailey argued that Missouri is harmed by lost projected revenue due to lower teenage pregnancy rates.
Defamation Bailey agreed to have his office represent senators Rick Brattin, Denny Hoskins and Nick Schroer in a defamation lawsuit related to the 2024 Kansas City parade shooting, when the senators posted misinformation on social media identifying a bystander as both the shooter and an undocumented immigrant. Bailey claims that the senators are protected by legislative immunity and that their social media posts, later deleted, were made in their official capacity.
Disability In 2025, Bailey joined 16 other state attorneys general in a lawsuit aimed to repeal provisions in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Statements from the attorneys general name recently added provisions related to gender dysphoria and an integration mandate, which operationalized Olmstead v. L.C. Disability advocates raised concern on the case statement of "unconstitutionality" of Section 504 and a lack of communication from Bailey. When questioned on the matter by a member of the House Budget Committee, Bailey could not remember the case.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion public schools investigation; ethics complaint In March 2024, an after-school fight at Hazelwood East High School resulted in a 16-year-old student being critically injured by another girl. Bailey's office announced an investigation into the school's focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program, although race was not apparently a factor in the fight. Bailey's letter was strongly criticized for containing several easily verified factual errors, for instance, listing the wrong date and time of the fight and suggesting school resource officers could have prevented the incident. The altercation took place off-campus and after the school day. The school district responded that Bailey was politicizing the incident for political purposes. After Bailey announced the investigation, an attorney for the district reported bomb scares in the district and racially-charged hateful messages from across the country.
In April 2024, the district filed a claim charging Bailey violated state rules by initiating a "frivolous" investigation based on inaccurate claims and politicizing the case. "The complaint to Missouri's Office of Chief Legal Counsel cited multiple violations of the Missouri court system's Rules of Professional Conduct, which are based on American Bar Association models... Those rules prohibit lawyers from bringing frivolous claims, making claims in bad faith, making derogatory public comments about targets of legal action, and using the legal process for the purpose of harassment and intimidation."
Firearms On March 7, 2023, federal judge Brian C. Wimes found a state law, signed by Parson, regulating cooperation with federal authorities on firearms issues, to be unconstitutional as a violation of the Supremacy Clause. Bailey appealed the case to the Eighth Circuit, who affirmed the court's ruling in August 2024. Bailey pressured Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick to change his fiscal note on a ballot petition for firearm regulations. Bailey's proposed costs of $704 million includes costs associated to an estimated "additional 32 murders and 726 rapes" should stricter regulations be implemented. Fitzpatrick retained his original estimate, which Bailey approved.
Gambling Lawyers under Bailey's attorney general's office withdrew from a lawsuit related to unregulated slot machines. The plaintiffs, Torch Electronics and Warrenton Oil, contributed to Bailey's 2024 Missouri Attorney General election campaign. In 2021, former attorney general Eric Schmitt returned contributions from Torch Electronics when conflict of interest concerns were raised, choosing to continue work on the case.
Bailey's office did not respond to questions as to why Bailey's office chose to accept the money rather than withdraw from the case. In a 2024 town hall amongst attorney general candidates a question was asked, "What are we going to do about gambling machines?" The response from Bailey was, "This issue is a failure of the status quo in Jefferson City... Prosecute crimes and enforce the rule of law."
The games have come under scrutiny by the Missouri Gaming Association, Missouri State Highway Patrol, and St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners, who have found a lack of clear legal guidance on the issue. Will Scharf, rival candidate for attorney general, describes the games as "blatantly illegal" and within the scope of the office's responsibilities.
Media Matters for America