Andrew Bailey, former Missouri attorney general, has been appointed co-deputy director of the FBI. The appointment occurs amid criticism of the current official, Dan Bongino, and rising legal actions against gender-affirming care at the Department of Justice. Bailey previously targeted transgender health providers, launching investigations and sending civil investigative demands to hospitals, a university, and Planned Parenthood. Civil rights groups criticized those actions as abuses of power aimed at the trans community. A judge partially upheld the investigative authority under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act while ordering withholding of HIPAA-protected patient data. Bailey also promoted a tip line to report gender-affirming care providers.
The latest character to enter the revolving door of President Donald Trump's federal staff is a well-known antagonist of transgender Americans. Andrew Bailey, former Missouri attorney general, has been appointed a co-deputy director of the FBI. The current official in the role, Dan Bongino, came under fire for his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse case, triggering rumors about his potential future-or lack thereof-at the bureau. This comes as legal attacks on gender-affirming care for trans people heat up at the Department of Justice.
Bailey is no stranger to the anti-trans crusade. Civil rights groups have lambasted him for what they say are repeated attempts to abuse his power to target the trans community. Bailey seeks to "corrupt our health care system" and "play politics at the expense of life-saving medical care," said Gillian Wilcox, Deputy Director for Litigation at the ACLU of Missouri, in a press release from Bailey's time as the Missouri AG.
In 2023, Bailey launched an investigation into Washington University in St. Louis and other providers of trans-affirming health care on drummed-up and dubious claims that gender clinics violated consumer protection laws. In the process, Bailey sent civil investigative demands (CIDs)-which function as a kind of subpoena-to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Washington University, and state branches of Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood fought the subpoena. In May, a judge partially upheld and partially blocked the legality of the CID, writing that it "was authorized under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA)" but that data protected by federal privacy regulations (namely HIPAA) should be withheld.
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