Name: Attempt to Remove Soros-Backed Prosecutor Moves Forward; She Vows to Fight ‘Witch Hunt’
Uploaded: 2023-05-03T19:32:51.000Z
Description: Days after an embattled prosecutor vowed she would never resign from office, a judge ruled that removal proceedings against her would continue.

NTD Newsroom comprises teams of reporters, editors, and producers assigned to cover breaking news and other stories.


NTD Newsroom

NTD Plus

News

News you can trust from the U.S. and around the world. Critical information and insight. We cover the stories that others don’t. NTD News Today airs Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

NTD News Today

Pentagon Scraps Deployment of 4,000 Troops to Poland

9/11 Memorial and Museum Adds 7th Moment of Silence

AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Launch Joint Venture to Tackle Dead Zones

Stefania Cox is an NTD News anchor and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Stefania anchors "NTD Newsroom," and co-anchors "NTD News Today" weekdays at 10:00 am ET.

Stefania Cox

Trump Committed to US Defense, Prosperity, Amid China Talks: Expert

Jerome Powell Ends Tenure as Fed Chair

US Government Sues Chick-fil-A Over Religious Rights

California Gubernatorial Candidates Make Closing Pitches to Voters 

House Passes 1st Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Bill

Jason Blair is a national correspondent for NTD News based in California. 

Jason Blair

Federal Judge Partly Blocks Texas Immigration Law

Trump Announces National Garden of American Heroes Plans

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 15)

Paul Greaney is an NTD news anchor and producer. Since joining the company in 2018, he has anchored the station’s flagship Evening News broadcast, launched the NTD Business show, and produced documentary reports on pointed issues. 

The highlight of Paul’s time in the field was his coverage of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Paul Greaney

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 14)

Kevin Hogan is an NTD News data reporter and national correspondent based at the network's global headquarters in New York City. Kevin covers breaking news, as well as U.S. and global current events. He conveys the news through data visualizations and investigates pressing issues.

Kevin Hogan

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 13)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 12)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 11)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 8)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 7)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 6)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 5)

NTD News Today Full Broadcast (May 4)

Fast, compelling, first-hand news from China. China in Focus airs Monday–Friday at 8 p.m. ET.

China in Focus

China Sends Warships to Pacific Drill as Tensions With Japan Rise

Reuters is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages.

Reuters

We present news that is truthful and based on facts, outside of the political fog. Instead of focusing on the negative things happening around us, our mission is to give our viewers a good morning with empathetic and uplifting stories. Our aim is to provide an antidote to negativity by shining a light on the best side of people. We speak to inspiring people who positively impact communities, pursue topics that represent our common human values, and will never miss an opportunity to bring you heartwarming stories.

NTD Good Morning

2 US Embassy Personnel Assigned to Cartel Case Killed in Car Accident

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. 

The Associated Press

US News

Gunman Kills 8 Children, Including 7 of His Own, in Louisiana Mass Shooting

Flora Hua is a reporter based at NTD's global headquarters in New York City, where she covers China news, U.S.-China relations, and human rights issues. Flora primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus."  

Flora Hua

Trump: Seized Iranian Ship May Have ‘A Gift From China’

Joseph Lord is a congressional reporter for The Epoch Times.


Joseph Lord

Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.

Aldgra Fredly

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized in Critical Condition: Spokesman

Wildfires Across Georgia and Florida Have Destroyed Nearly 50 Homes and Are Forcing Evacuations

US Warns of China Hacks via Routers, Smart Devices

Juliet Song is an international correspondent exclusively covering China news for NTD. She primarily contributes to NTD's "China in Focus," covering U.S.-China relations, the Chinese regime's human rights abuses, and domestic unrest inside China.

Juliet Song

2 Americans Among Suspected Communist Rebels Killed in Clashes With Troops, Philippine Officials Say

Ryan Morgan is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on military and foreign affairs. He was previously a news writer for NTD. 


Ryan Morgan

Mari Otsu is NTD's White House correspondent based in Washington. 

Mari Otsu

World News

Middle East

Iran

3 US Warships Fend Off Iranian Attacks, Trump Says Ceasefire Still Holds

Health News

3 Dead in Suspected Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise Ship in Atlantic Ocean: WHO

Days after an embattled prosecutor vowed she would never resign from office, a judge ruled that removal proceedings against her would continue.

On May 2, Visiting Judge John Torbitzky ordered seven out of 10 claims against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner to move forward. He denied her lawyers’ request to throw out all of the accusations.

Torbitzky has been presiding over the case that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey brought against Gardner, a Democrat.

Gardner has accused Republican Bailey of playing politics.

Bailey filed a petition alleging that Gardner shirked her responsibilities and should forfeit her elected office. Her lawyers say Gardner committed no intentional acts that would warrant her removal.

Torbitzky said he made “reasonable inferences” that Gardner willfully failed to  “prosecute cases, make charging decisions, keep victims informed, and ensure defendants and victims receive a speedy trial,” as Bailey alleges.

The judge dismissed three allegations that didn’t fit the type of conduct that could lead to an officeholder’s removal.

Gardner also faces other accusations. Last week, a separate judge found that her office’s no-shows at court proceedings warranted an allegation of “indirect criminal contempt.” A hearing in the contempt case is set for May 30.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that an assistant prosecutor involved in that case has resigned, as did a second assistant who avoided a contempt citation.

The recent departures are adding to judges’ concerns about Gardner’s office being understaffed, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/st-louis-prosecutor-shortage-aa5b56b116be77b775999a5bd9adc316">a court spokesman said.</a>
<h2>‘Witch Hunt’ Alleged</h2>
During a public meeting at a local church on April 29, Gardner said her enemies “want to capture every word I’m saying, so they can use this as a soundbite for criminal contempt or a vehicle to try to take me out of office.”

“What you’re seeing is a witch hunt,” she said in the meeting recorded by  KSDK News and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDXWQEakjNs&list=PLtxwUv5r5kpUZ25ImWsTTwqA_NzABMIb7&t=22s">posted on YouTube.</a>

Gardner declared emphatically: “I’m not leavin’. I’m not resigning. I’m not doing nothing. [sic] You will have to remove me.”

And, at one point, she said, “You can’t take me out, because I’m not afraid of none of this [sic].”

Gardner, seeking reelection in 2024, is among many progressive prosecutors who received backing from funds from billionaire George Soros. <a href="https://themissouritimes.com/soros-gets-involved-in-st-louis-circuit-attorney-race/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to The Missouri Times, </a>Gardner’s campaign benefited from Soros’s largesse. Several Soros-backed prosecutors have been accused of being soft on crime.
<h2>‘Change of Judge’</h2>
In the removal case, Torbitzky’s ruling followed an April 18 hearing where he heard arguments from both sides.

The state Supreme Court, which appointed Torbitzky, will need to select another judge to hear the case.  Torbitzky had no choice but to grant Gardner’s lawyers’ request that he be replaced.

A Missouri <a href="https://casetext.com/rule/missouri-court-rules/missouri-rules-of-civil-procedure/rules-governing-civil-procedure-in-the-circuit-courts/rule-51-venue-including-change-of-venue-and-change-of-judge/rule-5105-change-of-judge-procedure">procedural rule</a> allows “a change of judge” once in every civil case, no questions asked. When they filed a motion under that rule, Gardner’s lawyers gave no reasons for seeking a replacement judge.

Meanwhile, Bailey is accusing Gardner’s lawyers of stonewalling requests for records and stalling the proceedings.
<figure id="attachment_5028555" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2508px;">

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey speaks to reporters after taking the oath of office in Jefferson City, Mo., on Jan. 3, 2023. (David A. Lieb/AP Photo)

</figure>
“After sixty days, five pleadings, four meet-and-confers, and one hearing, the Circuit Attorney’s Office has produced zero documents … The only thing the Circuit’s Attorney’s Office has produced is delay,” Bailey said in a May 1 court filing.

Gardner’s lawyers complained that producing the requested records would be onerous and that some should be blocked from release because they were irrelevant or privileged information.

Torbitsky largely rejected those arguments. “The alleged burden does not outweigh the benefit of this information,” Torbitzky wrote.

Torbitsky issued a separate order requiring Gardner to provide dozens of categories of records within 30 days.

The Epoch Times has requested comment from Gardner’s lawyers.
<h2>Police Blamed for Failures?</h2>
Bailey quoted portions of Gardner’s public comments in court records, stating she has telegraphed that “her defense to the suit will include blaming the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for her failures.”

In the YouTube video, Gardner said she had run afoul of the system because she has attempted to reform it.

In office since 2017, Gardner said police used to “control” the Circuit Attorney’s Office before she arrived. Police used to tell the former officeholder “what to do, how to do it, who to charge, what to charge, and what to make the case,” Gardner said. “And I said, ‘We’re not doing that today …  And people don’t like that.”
<figure id="attachment_5060265" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 3294px;">

Lamar Johnson (L) embraces St. Louis Prosecutor Kim Garner after St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason vacated his murder conviction during a hearing in St. Louis on Feb. 14, 2023. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP, Pool)

</figure>
But Gardner said she would continue to buck the system.

“I fight so hard because the people who elected me told me: ‘Do not do things the same way,’” Gardner said.

Gardner cited the wrongful conviction of Lamar Johnson, a St. Louis man who served 28 years in prison for a slaying he says he didn’t commit; a judge agreed, finding “reliable evidence of actual innocence.”

Gardner’s office worked with the Innocence Project to get Johnson freed from a state prison; he was released in February.

“I don’t want any more Lamar Johnsons—and you think Lamar Johns is the only one? Come on now,” Gardner said as audience members agreed with her.
<h2>Justice System is ‘Titanic’</h2>
She alluded to Judge Michael Noble’s comment during last week’s contempt hearing. <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/judge-accuses-no-show-missouri-prosecutor-of-contempt-calls-office-a-rudderless-ship-of-chaos_5226641.html">He stated</a> that her office was “a rudderless ship of chaos.”

Gardner’s retort: “When you talk about a ‘rudderless ship’… We’re trying to change the Titanic of a ship to be fair and just.”

She said recent staff departures and all the attacks she’s faced don’t faze her.

“I don’t care if I have nobody in my office because it’s about doing the right thing,” Gardner said.

Gardner said her efforts to staff her office properly had been sabotaged.

“I’ve been leading an organization that has been purposely disinvested from day one,” she said. “People have colluded and conspired, inside the office and out, to make sure we’re not successful, and I’ve still kept it going for over seven years and done our job.”

Regardless of the outcome of her battle to keep her job, Gardner said there are far-reaching implications for the people of St. Louis.

“It’s me now here today. It’s gonna be you next—and your family,” she said.

<em>The Associated Press contributed to this story.</em>

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/attempt-to-remove-soros-backed-prosecutor-moves-forward-she-vows-to-fight-witch-hunt_5237853.html">The Epoch Times</a></em>

Videos

Politics

04_Top Stories

Premium Picks

Latest Clips

George Soros

Management

Janice Hisle reports on former President Donald Trump's campaign for the 2024 general election ballot and related issues. Before joining The Epoch Times, she worked for more than two decades as a reporter for newspapers in Ohio and authored several books. She is a graduate of Kent State University's journalism program. You can reach Janice at: janice.hisle@epochtimes.us

Janice Hisle

Courts

Latest and breaking news, documentaries, movies, and lifestyle content on NTD+.
 
Empower your knowledge and elevate your spirit with NTD+, your go-to destination for truthful news, insightful documentaries, and captivating lifestyle content that enriches your life.