Residents of a major Midwestern city may finally get some relief from a spike in crime after a local district attorney whose campaign was financed by left-wing culture destroyer George Soros resigned on Thursday.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner’s resignation comes as she faces pressure from Missouri’s Republican attorney general to step down and is under investigation for criminal contempt due to allegations of neglecting her duties.
Soros-backed prosecutor Kim Gardner resigns from office | Just The News https://t.co/tXYA1UNUYR
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) May 4, 2023
“Unfortunately, since the time I took office, as the first Black, female prosecutor in the State, people outside of the city have targeted me and, to advance their goals, have also targeted the fundamental rights of the city’s voters,” she claimed in a statement.
“In recent days, for example, The Missouri State Legislature began hearings on a bill that appears to permanently remove the right of every St. Louis voter to elect their Circuit Attorney, the only remaining elected position in our city’s criminal justice system,” she said. “Instead, that bill gives the Governor the power to appoint our city’s chief prosecutor.”
Gardner went on to complain that the pressure to oust her from her position resembled Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ decision to remove a Soros-backed state attorney in 2020. Another Soros-backed state attorney in Florida recently stated that she anticipates DeSantis will remove her from office soon. Notably, DeSantis is the only governor to have removed a Soros-supported prosecutor from their position.
“This most recent bill is a part of a coordinated, long-standing strategy to undermine me and my efforts to make the City of St. Louis safer and fairer,” she claimed. “Since day one of my tenure as Circuit Attorney, I have experienced attacks on my reforms, on my judgment, on my integrity, on my prosecutorial discretion, on my responsibility to direct the limited resources of this office and more.”
Well, her ‘reforms’ are the same as every other Soros-backed left-wing DA: Refusal to prosecute crime. In fact, during her tenure, she dropped more than, 12,000 cases, Fox News reported.
And Gardner also has a slew of ethics problems to her credit.
“For years, Gardner’s office has faced criticism for mishandling cases and office dysfunction. The final straw for Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey came in February, when a teenage volleyball player visiting St. Louis with her team was struck by a car and lost both of her legs,” Fox News noted.
The man involved in the crash was charged with assault, armed criminal action, and operating a motor vehicle without a valid license. He had violated the terms of his bond multiple times and was awaiting trial for a separate armed robbery case while out on bond.
Fox adds:
Gardner argued that her office had tried to put the suspect back in jail but that a judge had denied their request. However, there are no court records of her office, which is responsible for monitoring compliance with bond conditions and revoking them when those terms are violated, asking for his bond to be revoked, according to local reports.
In the wake of the incident, Bailey filed a petition quo warranto, the legal mechanism under state statute that allows the attorney general to remove a prosecutor who neglects the job’s duties.
Bailey claims that nearly 12,000 criminal cases have been dismissed to what he calls Gardner’s failures. He also says more than 9,000 cases have been thrown out as they had been about to go to trial, forcing judges to dismiss more than 2,000 cases due to what Bailey described as a failure to provide defendants with evidence and speedy trials.
One of her ethics violations was an admission some four years ago that she and her office failed to turn over all evidence to defense lawyers in a case involving then-GOP Gov. Eric Greitens, who was forced to resign. She got reprimanded by the Missouri Supreme Court over it.
For his part, Bailey said Thursday there’s no need for Gardner to remain in her position until the end of the month.
“There is absolutely no reason for the circuit attorney to remain in office until June 1,” he said. “We remain undeterred with our legal quest to forcibly remove her from office. Every day she remains puts the city of St. Louis in more danger. How many victims will there be between now and June 1? How many defendants will have their constitutional rights violated? How many cases will continue to go unprosecuted?”
Meanwhile, “Missouri Judge Michael Noble said last week that he was appointing a special prosecutor to build a criminal contempt case against Gardner and Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Desilets because they had repeatedly failed to show up in court,” the Daily Wire added.