St. Louis City prosecutor Kim Gardner, facing a professional misconduct hearing, has denied claims she concealed evidence during an investigation into the activities of former Gov. Eric Greitens.
A tribunal hearing will be held into the claims after the state's chief disciplinary counsel, which investigates alleged misconduct by attorneys, found there was "probable cause" and prepared "information" to take further action against Gardner.
Gardner is accused of concealing details of the Greitens' investigation from her own officials, failing to disclose facts to the former governor's legal team, and misrepresenting evidence to a court of law.
Following the professional misconduct hearing, the tribunal can recommend disbarment, suspension, probation or public censure, or she could be cleared of any wrongdoing. The Supreme Court will then make the final decision.
The action stems from the pursuit of Greitens, who resigned in June 2018, weeks after charges that included felony invasion of privacy for allegedly taking and transmitting a partially nude image of a woman, were dropped.
But private investigator William Tisaby, hired by Gardner to investigate Greitens and who interviewed the woman, was later charged with six counts of perjury and one count of tampering with evidence after a special prosecutor found he lied under oath in connection with the probe. That action is pending.
As he was defending the governor in 2018, Greitens’ attorney James Martin wrote in a motion to dismiss felony privacy allegations, that Tisaby boldly and continually lied under oath in a deposition and concealed his notes and draft reports. Martin claimed Tisaby committed perjury and circuit attorney Kim Gardner suborned it.
Tisaby allegedly perjured himself in response to almost every question he was asked, “with the circuit attorney knowingly watching on,” Martin wrote.
In a 41-page response to the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, Gardner's attorney Michael Downey branded the complaint as “another attempt” by political opponents to diminish her character.
“The Information is another attempt by Ms. Gardner’s political enemies — largely from outside St. Louis — to remove Ms. Gardner and thwart the systemic reforms she champions,” Downey argued on April 30.
The investigation of Greitens was “not wrongfully motivated” and the prosecutor did not “hide” any material from the relevant parties, according to the response to the finding of probable cause made by Alan Pratzel, the chief disciplinary counsel.
In a statement issued after her name appeared on the list of pending cases, Gardner's office stated: "As the Circuit Attorney has repeatedly proven time after time, she has acted in full accordance with the law during the investigation into former Governor Greitens.
"Despite several investigations attempting to uncover illegal wrongdoing by her office in this case, none has ever been found. We are confident that a full review of the facts will show that the Circuit Attorney has not violated the ethical standards of the State of Missouri."