St. Louis City's circuit attorney's office has not handed over records potentially linked to the prosecition of former Gov. Eric Greitens, according to an attorney representing the plaintiff in the legal action.
Circuit Cout Judge Chriistopher McGraugh last month ordered the defendants, including Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, to hand over records of communications, or at least a list of outside individuals and organizations they communicated with prior to charges being filed against the former governor. The deadline was Dec. 3.
Greitens was accused of extortion in connection with his use photographs of his girlfriend. The case was dropped, but Greitens resigned.
"The office has not handed over records yet and seems incredibly unlikely to do so," said Dave Roland, director of litigation with the liberterian-leaning Freedom Center of Missouri.
"They have appealed the denial of their motion to set aside the default judgment," Roland told the St. Louis Record.
"Although this should not affect their obligation to produce the records, the way the judge has handled this matter so far suggests that he will not require them to produce the records while they have an appeal pending.
"Although circumstances could change, my working assumption right now is that the trial court will allow them to withhold the records indefinitely until the Court of Appeals disposes of the office's appeal."
Judge McGraugh. at an earlier court hearing. said the defendant's conduct, including the failure to produce documents and missing deadlines, "has recklessly impeded the judicial process."
Roland's client, Washington DC-based journalist John Solomon, has asked for communications between Gardner, or members of her team, and approximatively a dozen individuals, including state representatives and, notably, the billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros.
Solomon believes there were communications with Soros, but this has not been confirmed and, if so, whether any are linked to Greitens.
"I am agnostic about that," said Roland on any possible back and forth between Soros and Gardner's office, the type or if any at all.