George Soros-funded St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner resigned from office on Thursday, less than one month after Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey took steps to remove her from office.
Gardner alluded to being “targeted” due to her race and gender in her letter of resignation, which she uploaded to Twitter.
“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,” Gardner wrote.
— Circuit Attorney (@stlcao) May 4, 2023
She announced that her resignation would be effective as of June 1.
Bailey took steps to remove Gardner from her office weeks ago, citing her alleged mishandling of cases.
“As Attorney General, I want to protect the people of St. Louis, and that includes ensuring prosecutors protect the public,” Bailey said in early April. “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 warrant at 12:01 PM to remove her from office immediately.”
As Breitbart News detailed:
The petition related by Bailey alleges that “the circuit court has been forced to dismiss more than 2,700 cases, often because of [Gardner’s] inexplicable failure to provide defendants with discovery and a speedy trial” and that her “lack of diligence has forced her office to dismiss more than 9,000 cases — frequently on the cusp of trial — endlessly frustrating courts and victims desperate for justice.”
It also specifically cites a February 18 incident in which Daniel Riley, who had been charged with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action in 2020, allegedly struck a teenage volleyball player while speeding, “severing one of her legs,” “maiming the other,” and ultimately resulting in the amputation of both limbs.
“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,” Gardner added in her resignation letter.
Notably, Gardner launched a politically charged investigation into former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) in 2018 after the former governor was accused of having an affair and blackmailing the woman with compromising photos while in office.
Instead of having the St. Louis Police Department investigate these allegations, Gardner hired former FBI agent William Tisaby to conduct the investigation. Tisaby ultimately pled guilty to evidence tampering and was sentenced to probation after facing six felony counts of perjury and one count of evidence tampering in connection with the Greitens investigation.
“I can absorb those attacks, and I have. But I can neither enable nor allow the outright disenfranchisement of the people of the City of St. Louis, nor can I allow these outsiders to effectively shut down our important work,” Gardner added. “If not for these two things, I would continue to fight tirelessly to maintain the job you selected me to serve.”
“The most powerful weapon I have to fight back against these outsiders stealing your voices and your rights is to step back. I took this job to serve the people of the City of St. Louis, and that’s still my North star,” Gardner concluded. “And so, it is with a heavy heart but steadfast resolve that I am resigning my position as your Circuit Attorney, effective June 1st.”
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/04/ssoros-funded-prosecutor-kim-gardner-resigns-from-office/