JEFFERSON CITY — Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s spokeswoman on Friday defended his decision to represent three state senators accused of defamation, a day after the person who appointed Bailey to his current job criticized the move.
“The State has an interest in ensuring that a remote federal district court isn’t the final say on interpretation of Missouri law,†Madeline Sieren, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said in an email Friday.
Parson, on Thursday, called Missouri’s representation of the three senators in federal defamation lawsuits “problematic,†adding “I don’t agree“ in comments to reporters after a bill-signing ceremony.
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The statements by Parson represented a notable break with his hand-picked attorney general, who assumed the job in early 2023 after Eric Schmitt’s ascension to the U.S. Senate.
The chief executive has also been at odds with the three state senators at the center of the controversy — Sens. Nick Schroer of Defiance, Rick Brattin of Harrisonville and Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg.
The three senators are members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, a group that has repeatedly disrupted business in the Legislature.
Slowdowns they’ve orchestrated include blocking confirmation of a slate of gubernatorial appointees earlier this year and a 41-hour filibuster last week that stalled advancement of a health care provider tax providing billions of dollars for the state Medicaid program.
Following the Super Bowl parade shooting in February in Kansas City, the three state senators shared a picture on social media site X showing a man sitting on a curb and surrounded by police. His hands appeared to be behind his back and yellow caution tape is in view.
A post Brattin and Hoskins shared, which included the photo, said the shooter “has been identified as 44-year-old Sahil Omar, an illegal immigrant.†Schroer shared a post by U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee that included the photo and identified that shooter as an “illegal Alien.â€
But the man pictured was actually Denton Loudermill, of Olathe, Kansas.
Loudermill’s attorney told KMBC-TV in Kansas City that he had been detained for being intoxicated and failing to leave a crime scene and that he was eventually released without being cited or arrested.
Loudermill sued for defamation in federal court in Kansas on April 2.
His attorneys argued the Kansas court had jurisdiction, that gives federal district courts original jurisdiction over civil lawsuits exceeding $75,000 between citizens of two states.
But Deputy Attorney General Jeremiah Morgan argued the federal court in Kansas doesn’t have jurisdiction over Brattin, a Missouri resident.
“Defendant (Brattin) is a Missouri citizen and elected official, who, Plaintiff (Loudermill) alleges, posted online in Missouri about an event that occurred in Missouri,†the motion says. “At no point has Plaintiff demonstrated that Defendant purposefully directed any online posts at Kansas or made Kansas the focal point of any online message.â€
The state said that under a Tenth Circuit precedent, Brattin “lacks sufficient minimum contacts with Kansas for this Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over him.â€
A scheduling conference in Brattin’s case has been set for June 28. No similar conferences had been scheduled in the other two cases as of Friday.