ST. LOUIS – The rhetoric is rising Thursday morning in the legal back and forth between Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey and St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Bailey threw the latest legal jab in this battle after he filed new court documents late Wednesday night.

The documents indicated that Bailey is going to try and make a more convincing case for why he believes Gardner should be removed from her position. Bailey’s latest filing said he wants to push pause on everything until next Tuesday. That’s when Bailey shared that he will file an amended petition to his original motion, saying Gardner should be removed from office because she isn’t doing her job. Bailey also wants the court to set a June trial date for the case.

Part of Bailey’s new filing explained that “the amended petition will provide respondent with notice of additional allegations that support the claims. For her removal and notice of additional evidence that the state intends to rely on to prove those allegations.”

Bailey’s new filing comes after Gardner barely met a deadline to file her response to Bailey’s original motion to have her removed as circuit attorney.

Gardner argued that Bailey’s case should be thrown out. Her attorneys expressed that Gardner has twice been elected by the voters and that an unelected Bailey is trying to thwart the will of the people.

Part of Gardner’s filing reads, “Mr. Bailey’s petition fails to meet the extremely high bar to state a lawful claim for ouster. Instead, his petition is a gross power grab, an affront to the liberties of all Missourians. The court should dismiss it.”