ST. LOUIS — Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner spurned an ultimatum from Missouri’s attorney general on Thursday, declining to step down and claiming that calls for her resignation are a “political stunt.”
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey on Wednesday gave Gardner the ultimatum to resign by noon Thursday or face removal through a "quo warranto" petition. She did not resign, and Bailey filed the petition.
The city's chief prosecutor then spoke to reporters Thursday afternoon at a chaotic news conference in a packed mezzanine outside her office that featured shouting from a crowd of supporters, applause and heckling of reporters.
