[5] As attorney general, Bailey moved aggressively to expand his powers and used his post to pursue conservative "culture war" issues.
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 an extremist right-wing agenda.
[9] 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 has served 33 years in state prison.
"[16][17] In 2024, Bailey sued Planned Parenthood, accusing it of trafficking minors across state lines for abortions[18] using a Project Veritas video as evidence.
[19] 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.
Bailey claims that the senators are protected by legislative immunity and that their social media posts, later deleted, were made in their official capacity.
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.
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.
[31] In June 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6–3 decision, rejected arguments that the federal government violated the First Amendment in its efforts to combat misleading information online.
The court held that the co-plaintiffs in the case, including the states of Missouri and Louisiana and seven individuals, could not demonstrate any harm or risk that they will suffer an injury in the future—that they did not have standing to file a suit.
A lower court ruled officials in the Trump and Biden administrations unlawfully coerced social media companies to remove "deceptive or inaccurate content out of fears it would fuel vaccine hesitancy or upend elections.
[34] When asked about MOHELA's unpaid contributions to state higher aid funds since 2008, Bailey responded the issue is for the Supreme Court "to sort out.
"[38] This political intervention in medical care aligned with bills filed in other states; however, Bailey escalated the process through his office's authority in Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.
[39] The rule required healthcare providers to document gender dysphoria for a period of three years before prescribing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or gender-affirming surgery.
Bailey announced his intention to take legal action against the Kansas City Police Department should they fail to enforce restrictions.
[42] In July 2024, a St. Louis Circuit Court judge ruled that Bailey could not receive unredacted private medical information of minors treated at the Washington University Transgender Clinic.
[43] In March 2023, Bailey condemned a grand jury in New York after it indicted Donald Trump on charges of falsifying business records, arising from his company's payment of hush money to a pornographic film star.
[45] As attorney general, Bailey has appeared on shows hosted by Jenna Ellis, a former lawyer to Donald Trump, who has been indicted on felony charges for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
[52] In the Republican primary election, Bailey faced challenger Will Scharf, a former assistant U.S. attorney and official in Eric Greitens' administration.
Scharf's campaign was supported by the "Defend Missouri PAC" (which is funded largely by the Judicial Crisis Network and other groups associated with conservative activist Leonard Leo).