ST. LOUIS — Following months of increasingly public attempts to get in contact with former St. Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner, Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick finally met with her on Wednesday.
Trevor Fox, communications director for the Missouri State Auditor's Office, confirmed the office met with Gardner but had no further details to share.
Fitzpatrick called a news conference in early May during which he told reporters his office couldn't find Gardner and asked anyone who knew where she was to come forward.
The state auditor's office has been investigating Gardner's office since 2021, when Fitzpatrick's predecessor, Nicole Galloway, launched the investigation while Gardner was still in office.
Fitzpatrick took office in 2023 and served her with a subpoena, with which he says her office only partially complied.
On the day Fitzpatrick was going to go to court to force her to fully comply with his subpoena for documents, she resigned. He vowed then that her resignation did not mean he would end his probe into her administration.
In May, Fitzpatrick announced during a press conference that his final report has been delayed because his office hasn't been able to serve Gardner with a subpoena to compel her testimony for months. He added that his office has found evidence of "inappropriate expenditures" and "mismanagement," and he wants Gardner to answer questions about it.
Fitzpatrick said then that he would release his report with or without Gardner sometime before the end of the year.