ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. —
We're getting a better idea of what investigators are looking for in the federal investigation of St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger.
5 On Your Side has obtained a letter from Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith about what, specifically, they're looking for.
The two-page letter is essentially a list of grants and contracts that the county should prioritize turning over to their office.
We wanted to ask the county executive about this list, but Stenger declined our requests for comment and left the council meeting early on Tuesday evening.
At the very top of the list, Goldsmith asks for all documents and communication about Northwest Crossings. That's the company leasing the old Northwest Plaza shopping mall to the county to use as office space.
Councilman Ernie Trakas was also surprised to see Pelopidas, a firm that is working to pass Better Together, an initiative that would merge St. Louis City and County.
"It’s clear the breadth of the investigation is quite wide and I don’t know if there’s any deal that won’t be scrutinized," says Trakas.
This list is in addition to a lengthy subpoena that was filed weeks ago. The deadline to turn all of that over is Wednesday, April 10.
Councilman Trakas believes a lot of the documents will be delivered Wednesday but they'll also be given more time to satisfy this new request.
Councilman Tim Fitch once again renewed his calls for the County Executive to resign, saying the distraction is only hurting St. Louis County.
"It did me no great pleasure to call for him to step down it’s just the right thing for him to do because he’s just ineffective at this point," said Fitch.
He also offered Stenger some unsolicited advice.
"So if they’ve got you on something, you better hurry up and plead guilty and move forward because they’ll keep investigating and may find other things," said Fitch.
We've reached out repeatedly to St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger's office for comment. Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman for his office provided the following statement:
"We are providing all of the information requested and are cooperating fully."
