Soros-linked former prosecutor who allegedly mismanaged funds while in office reportedly dodging subpoena from state auditor
The state auditor of Missouri has yet to complete a years-long audit of the St. Louis Office of the Circuit Attorney because he cannot seem to locate Kim Gardner, the radical, Soros-linked former circuit attorney who allegedly mismanaged funds while in office.
The audit of Gardner's office began in 2021 under former Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway, a Democrat, as part of a citywide audit initiated by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, the AP reported. The audit has since continued under Republican State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, who assumed office last year.
"She knows there are questions that only she can answer. She knows she has the answer that the people of St. Louis deserve, but to date, not only has she made no effort to respond to our requests, it appears that she’s willfully evaded our many efforts to obtain information that only she can provide."
Having received tens of thousands of dollars for her campaign from an organization with ties to George Soros, Gardner was first elected to office in 2016 and then re-elected in 2020. She abruptly resigned in May 2023, as Blaze News previously reported, following mounting criticism from elected officials and the public.
"The most powerful weapon I have to fight back against these outsiders stealing your voices and your rights is to step back," Gardner said at the time. "I took this job to serve the people of the City of St. Louis, and that's still my North star."
Even with Gardner out of office, Fitzpatrick has continued his office's investigation into the circuit attorney's office under Gardner. He claims he has found evidence of "inappropriate expenditures" and "mismanagement" of funds and wants Gardner to give her version of events, but thus far, she has evaded all his attempts to contact her, KDSK reported.
Fitzpatrick claimed that in the past several months, his office has made daily phone calls, contacted Gardner's associates, and attempted to serve her with a subpoena on multiple occasions, all to no avail. The Missouri auditor believes that Gardner has deliberately avoided his office's attempts at contact.
"Kim Gardner knows we’re trying to finish the audit," he said at a press conference on Monday. "She knows there are questions that only she can answer. She knows she has the answer that the people of St. Louis deserve, but to date, not only has she made no effort to respond to our requests, it appears that she’s willfully evaded our many efforts to obtain information that only she can provide."
"It’s important that Kim Gardner be made to answer for her time as circuit attorney one way or another," Fitzpatrick continued. "It’s now clear that Kim Gardner does not want to answer for her time as circuit attorney."
Fitzpatrick stated that he has enough material to complete the audit, but he hopes Gardner will provide "additional clarity." He noted that Gardner did partially cooperate with an audit-related subpoena in 2023 before she left office, providing some of the requested documents but not others. The audit has so far cost taxpayers an estimated $188,000.
On Monday, the AP attempted to reach Gardner for comment at "cell numbers believed to be associated" with her but did not receive an answer.
While in office, Gardner was accused not only of financial mismanagement but of neglecting her responsibilities to prosecute criminals. In 2020, she infamously brought charges against Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a white couple who armed themselves to protect their property against a mob of Black Lives Matter agitators. Republican Gov. Mike Parson later pardoned them.
As circuit attorney, Gardner had also refused to take cases from dozens of police officers who allegedly made racist or Islamophobic comments on social media.
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