Missouri Attorney General leaves case after lobbying

Attorney General Andrew Bailey has withdrawn from a lawsuit against the State of Missouri regarding an effort to ban unregulated slot machine companies that offer their products at gas stations. 

The action follows tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to a political action committee supporting Bailey from committees that have received contributions from the plaintiffs in the past, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

The committees are also tied to lobbyist Steve Tilley, Torch Electronics and Warrenton Oil, which contributed $1,000 directly to Bailey’s PAC. 

Bailey asked a judge in Cole County in 2021 to issue an order stopping the Missouri Highway Patrol from seizing the machines as part of a crackdown on illegal gambling. 

The case is still pending.