51黑料

Bailey, who was appointed as the state鈥檚 top lawyer by Gov. Mike Parson in January, is overseeing the case involving a marijuana company that lost its license to operate over allegations of problems with its products.

Although Bailey鈥檚 campaign team says it is unaware that the campaign received contributions from the host of the November event, the incident is similar to one in which Bailey cited a conflict of interest and withdrew from a case involving a campaign donor.

The fundraiser is the latest example of the flurry of campaign dollars flowing into the 2024 election for attorney general, pitting a political newcomer in Bailey against Will Scharf of Clayton, a well-funded former aide to ex-Gov. Eric Greitens.

At issue in the latest dust-up is a Nov. 6 fundraiser at the home of Josh Ferguson, who is listed as a director of A Joint Operation.

Court documents show A Joint Operation runs Delta Extraction, the company that is fighting a decision by state regulators to suspend the firm鈥檚 operations for 鈥渟ignificant violations鈥� of Missouri鈥檚 cannabis regulations.

In addition to discovering hemp products in marijuana offered for sale by Delta, state officials said the company falsified seed-to-sale tracking data, failed to ensure all product was traceable in a state system and failed to ensure all product was compliantly tested.

The state also said Delta packaged products in a false and misleading manner and that it failed to meet required security standards.

The state suspended Delta Extraction on Aug. 2 and recalled thousands of its products later that month, saying officials could not verify the products were sourced from Missouri鈥檚 legal marijuana program.

The state鈥檚 probe and court action had been outsourced to private attorneys until Oct. 25, when the Department of Health and Senior Services ceded the case to Bailey鈥檚 office. The switch appears to be part of a strategy to use private firms to handle a crush of administrative law cases, while Bailey鈥檚 office takes over appeals to higher courts if needed.

Mike Hafner, a spokesman for Bailey鈥檚 campaign, told the Post-Dispatch that the attorney general鈥檚 personal committee has not received any money from Ferguson or his company.

Donations to a political action committee also raising money for Bailey are not expected to be reported until January.

Hafner also criticized Scharf, a former U.S. attorney in 51黑料, for holding a fundraiser Tuesday at his parent鈥檚 home in Florida.

鈥淲hile Prince William Scharf is at his palatial estate in Palm Beach raising money from Floridians for his flailing campaign for Attorney General, Andrew Bailey is remaining 100% focused on winning big in the courtroom for Missourians,鈥� Hafner said.

Ferguson could not be reached for comment.

Fundraising conflicts have become a common theme in the Republican primary race, where money designed to sway voters in the August primary is flowing in from across the country.

Bailey, for example, filed a legal brief earlier this year siding with Maryland Heights-based Doe Run Resources Corp. in a suit involving pollution at a Peru metal smelting complex and saw a $50,000 contribution from the firm鈥檚 parent company two months later.

The case in which Bailey filed his brief accuses Doe Run and others of causing lead poisoning of children in La Oroya, a mining town in the Peruvian Andes. There were more than 1,420 plaintiffs in the lawsuit as of January, according to court documents.

Last spring, faced with another possible conflict, lawyers working for Bailey withdrew from a lawsuit lodged against the Missouri State Highway Patrol by Torch Electronics, a politically connected company that has flooded the state with unregulated slot machines.

Although Bailey鈥檚 office did not directly say they withdrew because of campaign contributions, the decision came after money flowed from Wildwood-based Torch to political action committees controlled by powerhouse lobbyist Steve Tilley and then into a PAC supporting Bailey.

Another Tilley client, Oklahoma-based Conte Enterprise, is involved in the Delta Extraction case. According to a motion filed in August, Conte sought to intervene in the case after it began providing materials for Delta Extraction to use in its cannabis products.

Tilley, a former speaker of the Missouri House, is a major fundraiser in Missouri politics, with a slew of PACs under his control and a bevy of lobbying clients, ranging from gambling companies to marijuana dispensaries.

Other clients include Rosenblum, Schwartz, Fry & Johnson, the Clayton law firm helmed by Scott Rosenblum, whose son is registered as a lobbyist for Conte.

The most recent fundraising reports show Scharf with $886,000 in his campaign account as of Oct. 1. Bailey鈥檚 personal account had $462,000.

Democrats in the race include Rep. Sarah Unsicker, D-Shrewsbury, and attorney Elad Gross.

This story was updated Dec. 7, 2023 to reflect that Ferguson is no longer affiliated with Kaldi's Coffee Roasting.