When Andrew Bailey announced last week he was returning to Missouri to be with his family, many of the state's political observers were surprised.
After all, the former Missouri attorney general had only been co-deputy director of the FBI for about a year. And given his big margins of victory in 2024, his return stirred up speculation that he would be running for statewide office in 2028.
In a wide-ranging interview with St. Louis Public Radio, Bailey said neither political considerations nor reported dissatisfaction with the FBI prompted him to leave his federal post. But, he didn't close the door on running for something again in the future.
"Doing a year at the FBI away from my family was no different than those two years I spent overseas in Iraq in deployments in support fighting the War on Terror in the United States Army," Bailey said. "And so I'm consistently proud of the service I've rendered to my country, to my state. It's time for me to be at home with my family."
Bailey served as Missouri attorney general from 2023 and 2025. He surprised many in the state's political world by resigning last year to become co-deputy FBI director, prompting Gov. Mike Kehoe to appoint Catherine Hanaway as his successor.
The FBI has traditionally only had one deputy director. Bailey said "it was an honor to get to be kind of groundbreaking in that regard."
He also suggested that there should be more political appointees to oversee the agency. Currently, only the FBI director is appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. Bailey's appointment did not require Senate confirmation.
"And so when you get institutionalists or those who disagree with the policy positions of the people's elected president of the United States, they can vex, harass, and delay operationalization or implementation of the president's policy agenda, and that's inappropriate.," Bailey said. "That's unconstitutional. It's illegal. And so, having political appointees in positions like that I think effectuates and advances the president's policy positions."
Bailey's FBI experience
Bailey said he primarily worked on crime fighting and election-related efforts during his FBI tenure.
"Managing an organization of 38,000 employees with 56 regional field offices and more than 60 law enforcement attachés overseas, and with a national security mission, was really an incredible experience and professional development," Bailey said.
Earlier this year, Bailey was in Georgia when FBI officials conducted a search of Fulton County's elections office. The search was widely panned, especially by Democrats who accused Trump of using the federal government to further his discredited assertions that he won Georgia's electoral votes in 2020. Both Georgia's Republican governor and GOP secretary of state have repeatedly pushed back against Trump's claims, saying Joe Biden narrowly carried the state.
While noting that he can't comment on the Fulton County investigation, Bailey defended the administration's decision to sow doubt about the 2020 elections.
"I don't think it's fair to say that the 2020 election was on the up and up. I don't think that's accurate at all," Bailey said. "There were absolutely flaws and problems replete throughout different states in the country."
After his departure became public, several national news outlets published articles indicating that Bailey did not have a good relationship with FBI Director Kash Patel.
The New York Times reported that Patel and Bailey "did not get along, and often went long stretches without speaking to each other, according to multiple people familiar with their interactions who spoke on the condition of anonymity." MSNOW also reported that Bailey was upset following "the recent demotions of two senior counterterrorism supervisors in the Washington Field Office."
Bailey disputed those articles. He said, for instance, that he called Patel to congratulate him on his recent engagement. He also said that "missing meetings would not have broken my heart, but the opposite was true," adding that he and Patel "would be in meetings together every morning and throughout the day, and as issues would arise."
"Absolutely, 100% fake," Bailey said. "And I would point out … they're both premised on anonymous sources who were not in the room and did not have access to the conversations and the meetings and the interactions between me and Director Kash Patel."
He also dismissed the idea that he took on the co-deputy FBI director job in the hopes that he would become director if Patel resigned or was fired.
"I've never taken a job with the mindset that I'm here to promote myself or take someone else's job," Bailey said. "I took the job to be part of the team, and I'm proud of what the team accomplished."
Future plans
Bailey and Gov. Mike Kehoe share political staffers, so the former attorney general's return to the state stoked speculation that the GOP chief executive may not run for a second term.
Kehoe dismissed that possibility last week in St. Peters. "I've told many people that we intend to run in 2028 if Missourians will have us again," he said.
Bailey said: "I'm not a candidate for public office. I'm not a politician. I'm a public servant." He added whatever future political plans will be in consultation with his family.
"I want to hear from the people too," Bailey said. "It seems to me like there's a disconnect between the people of this state and the establishment in Jefferson City. And I think it's incumbent upon leaders in Jefferson City to listen to the people and understand where that disconnect occurs and find ways to bridge that gap."
Bailey would likely be a formidable candidate if he chooses to run for office. He easily defeated Will Scharf in an expensive and contentious GOP primary for attorney general before prevailing over Democrat Elad Gross in the general election. Scharf is now serving as White House counsel.
"I think that it's important that we have competent people who are able to make real change for the better, and I think that I've done that throughout my career," Bailey said. "I hope to be able to do that in the future in any capacity. "
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