Missouri AG Bailey to Join FBI as Codeputy Director With Bongino

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is resigning to take a leadership post at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, becoming the bureau’s codeputy director and sharing the role with Dan Bongino, a controversial former police officer and conservative media figure. Bailey announced he would step down from his statewide office to join the FBI later this year, with formal confirmation that he will assume the deputy slot alongside Bongino as part of a broader push to reorganize the bureau under the current administration’s law-and-order priorities. Bailey's departure will take effect Sept. 8, and Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe is expected to name a successor in the coming days.

The appointment aligns Bailey with a high-profile and frequently debated leadership team at the FBI. In announcing Bailey’s move, supporters described him as a longtime public servant with a record of prosecutorial work and a strong stance against crime and corruption. Bailey’s supporters say his background as a veteran and as Missouri’s attorney general—where he pursued a wide array of lawsuits and defended state policies on abortion restrictions and other issues—demonstrates public-service credentials...