Prosecutor Who Charged McCloskeys in Hot Water for Former Governor Eric Grietens Case, Could Face Misconduct Probe and Lose Law License

Kim Gardner, the St. Louis prosecutor who went full bore after the McCloskeys for pointing guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in their residential neighborhood, is now in hot water herself. This news comes shortly after Mark McCloskey hinted he may run for U.S. Senate.

The Chief Disciplinary Counsel in Missouri has investigated and found probable cause that St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner committed professional misconduct. This comes after former Governor Eric Grietens’ legal team complained. Greitens may also be running for Senate as well.

The charges appear to be related to when former Governor Grietens was prosecuted himself, and how she handled that case, and is totally unrelated to the McCloskey situation itself, although that is what made Gardner more well known.

Gardner, lauded by the left as a hero and championed for charging the McCloskey’s in what others saw as simple self-defense, is now facing penalties ranging from admonishment to suspension or revocation of her law license.

A 73 page document outlined many of the things Gardner allegedly did wrong in the Grietens invasion of privacy charges that he eventually beat. Chief Disciplinary Counsel Alan Pratzel listed many different occasions of violation of Missouri’s Rules governing lawyers during that case.

The private eye hired by Gardner, William Tisaby, has been charged for perjury and tampering with evidence in regards to the Grietens case already. But previously that was the extent of things, although now Gardner herself is in hot water. The allegations say she made false statements or failed to correct false statements, that she misrepresented or concealed facts from the courts and from the defense, and that she prejudiced the administration of justice by “jeopardizing the successful prosecution of the defendant because of her misconduct.”

Gardner has issued a 41 page denial of the allegations that can be seen here. Additionally, she released a statement Tuesday, that reads: “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.”

KMOV 4 gave some background on the case:

Case Background

Attorneys representing former Governor Greitens filed complaints against Gardner’s law license shortly after the conclusion of the criminal case back in 2018.

Then-state representative Paul Curtman also filed a bar complaint, but recently told News 4 he had been informed his complaint was not moving forward. Allegations from the Greitens team claim Gardner had an ethical obligation to correct the record during a deposition of private investigator William Tisaby. Gardner hired Tisaby who conducted interviews with the woman at the center of the invasion of privacy charge against Greitens.

Tisaby has since been charged with six counts of perjury and one count of tampering with evidence, after a special prosecutor found Tisaby had lied under oath. But Gardner was with Tisaby in those instances and allegations indicated she had a professional responsibility to ensure that Tisaby’s statements were correct. She has claimed she was not representing Tisaby and therefore did not have to do so.

Attorney Alan Pratzel is the Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the state and his office is the entity in charge of investigating complaints against lawyers in Missouri. It is an agency of the Missouri Supreme Court, funded by lawyers’ dues, not taxpayer funds, and is separate from The Missouri Bar. 

“Complaints do happen,” said Peter Joy, Professor of Law at Washington University School of Law. He told News 4, on average, a lawyer may be the subject of three to five complaints. “If they investigate and find no basis for it, that’s the end of it,” Joy said of the disciplinary process in Missouri.

For example, in 2018, the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel received 1,748 complaints and opened 685 formal investigations. Though disciplinary actions may be taken in another year, in 2018, investigations resulted in 16 lawyers being disbarred, 23 being suspended, and 92 receiving written admonitions, among other outcomes.

As for why it took so long for action, Joy says the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel often doesn’t want to interfere with elections (Gardner was re-elected in 2020) or any on-going criminal investigations. The special prosecutor investigating Tisaby had intimated Gardner herself could be subject to the criminal investigation, but sources tell News 4 that the statute of limitations for any charges on Gardner passed in March this year.

Time will tell what the outcome will be. This isn’t the first time we have seen, at least what appears to be in our view, politically motivated corruption coming from U.S. city and state officials, that there was eventually backlash against. Hopefully we can get back to a society where justice is blind, but for now, we can only hope for justice in this case and others like it that may be out there.