Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has filed a lawsuit against a Texas-based signature-gathering firm accusing it of refusing to cooperate with a state investigation into alleged fraudulent business practices tied to the hiring of undocumented workers and failing to provide subpoenaed documents.
The suit, filed Jan. 20, seeks a court order compelling Advanced Micro Targeting (AMT) to turn over records and communications requested in a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) issued by the attorney general’s office in November 2025.
According to the lawsuit, the investigation began after a report presented evidence suggesting that AMT may have violated multiple Missouri laws by using illegal migrants to collect petition signatures and withholding information about the workers’ ineligible employment status from its clients.
The attorney general’s office alleges that the company’s conduct could amount to deceptive and unfair business practices in violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA).
In publicly released remarks, Hanaway asserted that her office had “good reason to believe AMT fraudulently employed illegal migrants to collect signatures and advance its agenda in
Missouri,” and that the company had “blatantly refused to cooperate with our investigation.”
“If there has been any attempt to let unregulated, illegal labor hired by out-of-state interests determine our elections, we will root it out and hold bad actors accountable,” Hanaway said.
The CID required AMT to provide documents and other information by a Jan. 12 deadline.
Rather than comply, the lawsuit states, AMT’s counsel sent a letter asserting numerous objections to the legality and form of the CID, prompting the attorney general’s office to seek judicial intervention to enforce compliance.
In the lawsuit, Hanaway is asking the court to order AMT to produce all originally requested communications and materials.
Missouri law makes it illegal for businesses to knowingly employ unauthorized workers within the state. Under the law, no employer “shall knowingly employ, hire for employment, or continue to employ an unauthorized alien to perform work,” and the law classifies transportation of an illegal alien as a Class D felony.
The attorney general’s complaint cites these statutes as part of the basis for investigating AMT’s practices.
The company has been involved in gathering signatures for various ballot campaigns, including a high-profile effort by the group People Not Politicians to place a referendum on the state’s recently redrawn congressional map before voters, KTTN-FM reported.
Earlier reporting and statements by Hanaway escalated the dispute, including a referral of the matter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on allegations that signature gatherers employed by AMT were undocumented.
The company’s position, detailed in prior media coverage, is that it has qualified more statewide initiatives for the ballot than any other firm since 2020 and maintains that all workers are employees subject to E-Verify checks rather than independent contractors, KCUR reported.
The complaint seeks to compel AMT to comply with the CID and to shed light on its hiring and business practices, with potential broader ramifications for how signature-gathering operations are regulated and monitored in Missouri.
A hearing on the lawsuit is expected to determine whether the court will require AMT to produce the sought-after evidence.
