ST. LOUIS, Missouri (PNN) - August 4, 2020 - Just eight days after St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner - a criminal in her own right - filed bogus charges against a wealthy couple who defended their home against trespassing protesters and rioters, George Soros donated $116,000 to a Political Action Committee (PAC) established for the activist prosecutor.
A Saturday filing with the Missouri Ethics Commission revealed the donation made directly from Soros to the Missouri Justice and Public Safety PAC - for which Soros is the only donor so far. The PAC has already spent at least $104,393 - including $77,804 directly on Gardner, and a payoff of accumulated debt. Of note, Gardner has a primary this Tuesday.
Soros spokesman Michael Vachon said that Soros has made no secret that he supports prosecutors like Gardner for criminal justice reform.
Gardner slapped charges on personal injury lawyers Mark McCloskey, 63, and his wife Patricia, 61, who armed themselves and stood outside their mansion as a group of roughly 100 protesters and rioters broke down a gate to march down their private road.
For defending their property, the McCloskeys were each charged with a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon. Days after the charges were filed, it emerged that Gardner’s staff ordered a crime lab to tamper with evidence by reassembling the ‘prop’ pistol Patricia was waving in order to make it “capable of lethal use.”
Gardner’s decision to prosecute the McCloskeys ignited a controversy over Second Amendment rights, a well as Missouri’s “Castle Doctrine”, which governs use of firearms to defend one’s home. Those defending the couple include President Donald Trump, Missouri GOP Senator Josh Hawley, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, and Governor Michael Parson, who says he’ll pardon the McCloskeys.
The McCloskey’s attorney, Joel Schwartz, has filed a motion to dismiss both Gardner and her office from moving forward with their prosecution, claiming a conflict of interest, as “that Gardner’s campaign has used the McCloskeys’ incident to further her own financial, personal, and professional gain because Gardner sent out campaign solicitations for her re-election mentioning the McCloskeys,” according to the report.
