TRUTH ALERT: AG Andrew Bailey’s track record criticized in attack complaint

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A political action committee seeking to oust Attorney General Andrew Bailey from office has criticized some of his decisions.

But the attorney general’s campaign team called many of the claims misleading and explained to ABC 17 News some of the things Bailey did.

The ad is produced by Defend Missouri, a PAC that supports Will Scharf, Bailey’s Republican opponent in the attorney general primary.

AD: “Andrew Bailey has made Missouri more dangerous.”

The crime statistics of the individual states show something different.

Law enforcement agencies across the state reported fewer violent crimes to the Missouri State Highway Patrol in 2023 than in the previous two years. In at least one major city, Kansas City, the number of murders increased last year.

Bailey’s campaign team pointed out that the number of criminal cases brought by his office has increased by 133 percent since he took office as attorney general. ABC 17 News asked about the number of cases brought by his office but has not yet received a response.

AD: Bailey ended the Safer Streets program to prosecute urban criminals.

Then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt began working with federal prosecutors in Missouri in 2019 as part of the Safer Streets initiative, a program that assigned state assistant attorneys general as federal prosecutors to bring some Missouri cases to federal court, where some crimes may carry harsher penalties.

However, the partnership ended in 2022 when the Second Amendment Preservation Act complicated state and federal gun crime laws in Missouri. The Justice Department ended its relationship with the St. Louis office in 2022, while Bailey did not fill vacancies in the Kansas City district attorney’s office a year later.

Bailey’s campaign manager, James Lawson, said the attorney general is committed to taking on the prosecution in his own office and with other local law enforcement agencies. Lawson then attacked Scharf’s background as an assistant federal prosecutor in St. Louis.

“It’s not surprising that a former Justice Department prosecutor under Biden is advocating for handing over control of local law enforcement to the federal government,” Lawson said. “That’s not in the best interest of Missourians.”

AD: “Bailey failed to create a multimillion-dollar task force to combat violent crime.”

State lawmakers passed a 2023 budget that allocated nearly $1 million for a “violent crimes task force” in the attorney general’s office. The ad points out that Bailey’s government website makes no mention of the task force.

ADVERTISEMENT: “Bailey imposed a small fine and no prison sentence on a lawyer accused of raping three women.“

The line refers to a deal negotiated in 2023 with former Rolla attorney Brant Shockley. The Attorney General’s Office under Josh Hawley first filed 18 sex crimes charges against Shockley in 2018. In May 2019, prosecutors added more, including rape and sodomy. But the case ended in March 2023 with a deal for three counts of third-degree assault, all misdemeanors. A judge sentenced Shockley to pay a $300 fine for each crime and Shockley had to surrender his law license.

Lawson said plea negotiations began under Schmitt’s tenure and Bailey’s office followed through. He said attorneys and victim advocates spoke with victims beforehand and agreed the deal would spare them “the trauma of testifying.”

Lawson criticized the PAC for using the case in its ad.

“What’s worse is that they’re doing this purely for political gain,” Lawson said. “Not only is this wrong, it goes against the principle of restorative justice and grossly misleads the voters of Missouri.”