Kim Gardner: What to know about the Soros-backed attorney who could be removed from office
Brady Knox
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St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner is fighting for her job as Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is pushing an effort to remove the liberal, George Soros-backed prosecutor from her job.
The latest of many accusations about Gardner failing to do her job came after her team failed to attend the Monday murder trial of Jonathan Jones, an 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting a man in 2021. The incident was just the latest of numerous alleged wrongdoings by Gardner, which has led Judge Scott Millikan to file a motion declaring her in criminal contempt of court. If Gardner fails to show up in court or give just cause, she could be ousted, fined, or even put behind bars.
A parallel effort is underway from Bailey to remove Gardner. In February, he filed a writ of quo warranto against Gardner, the legal action allowing him to remove a prosecutor under state law.
Here’s everything you need to know about the controversial prosecutor.
Who is Gardner, and what are her links to George Soros?
The St. Louis circuit attorney started her career as an assistant attorney in the city before she was elected as a Missouri state representative in 2012. In 2016, she was elected as the first black person to head the Circuit Attorney’s Office. She won reelection in 2020.
Her 2016 election campaign became one of the first in the country to receive major funding from Soros, a left-wing megadonor. Soros backed Gardner again when she ran for reelection in 2020.
Soros-affiliated organizations went on to play a central role during Gardner’s tenure. A Fox News investigation found that the circuit attorney brought in the Vera Institute of Justice to aid in an “aggressive” campaign of ideological reform at the office. The organization has received more than $11 million in funding from Soros’s Open Society Foundations.
Among Vera’s initiatives were to remove the word “criminal,” which it claimed “creates punitive connotations or associations with guilt,” have Gardner commit to reserving jail time for only the most heinous offenses, and reducing racial disparities in the prison population by ignoring criminal histories when sentencing repeat offenders.
Nicholas Turner, the president of the Vera Institute of Justice, admitted the group’s initiatives may have led to a rise in crime.
“Maybe you sense some level of chaos or disorder or something that feels like an unraveling. … Maybe we’ve gone too far, you might have recently said. … And listen, you’re not wrong,” he said.
During her tenure, St. Louis became the most dangerous city in the United States, according to WalletHub.
Why is Gardner under fire?
The failure of Gardner’s team to show up in court on Monday is only the latest of several cases in which her team is alleged to have not shown up or come improperly prepared, leading to cases being dismissed.
The main effort to unseat the prosecutor comes from Bailey, who alleges criminal neglect and wrongdoing on her part.
“As Attorney General, I want to protect the people of St. Louis, and that includes ensuring prosecutors protect the public,” he said on Feb. 23. “We gave Circuit Attorney Gardner the chance to do the right thing and resign, she has refused to do so, and my office filed a quo warranto at 12:01 PM to remove her from office immediately.”
In his statement on the matter, he cited a case in which a repeat bond offender ran over a teenage girl with his car, leading to both her legs being amputated. He said that the case is only the latest in a pattern of misdeeds from Gardner.
“The quo warranto points out that Ms. Edmonson’s injuries are the direct result of years of willful neglect from Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner. As the Circuit Attorney, Respondent is morally, ethically, and legally responsible for the conduct of her office,” his office said. “For years, the Circuit Attorney’s Office has failed to (1) prosecute cases to resolution, (2) has failed to inform and confer with victims, and (3) has failed to even review and file cases submitted by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.”
Bailey claimed that 12,000 criminal cases had been dismissed due to a failure on Gardner’s part, the New York Post reported.
Gardner’s tenure has also been characterized by understaffing and organizational dysfunction, in addition to mishandling cases, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. She is facing growing calls to resign from not just Republicans but fellow Democrats as well.
“The circuit attorney’s office is now in a state of near-total collapse,” Booker T. Shaw, a lawyer representing the St. Louis Circuit Court judges, said in a Tuesday hearing.
How has Gardner responded?
Gardner has characterized the attacks against her as motivated by bigotry. She said the calls for her to resign are “voter suppression” and fueled by racism and sexism.
She argued that attempts to oust her rejected the will of the people after they voted her into office twice.
“It’s a poorly considered political move that doesn’t remotely state a lawful claim for Ms. Gardner’s ouster,” Gardner’s attorney Jonathan Sternberg said Tuesday.
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Her specific response to the case in which the teenage girl had to have her legs amputated earned her bipartisan ire, being widely decried as tone-deaf.
“It’s unfortunate that there are those who choose to twist the facts to take advantage of this situation for their own selfish motives,” she said on Feb. 23. “This is not the time for finger pointing, it’s time to support this family and ensure that justice is served.”