FOX News contributor wins judgment against Kim Gardner

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Fox News contributor John Solomon has won a default judgment against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner in an open records lawsuit he filed concerning a 2018 investigation into former Gov. Eric Greitens.

Solomon sued Gardner’s office after it did not respond to his requests for records of her contacts with staff and other key people in the Greitens investigation, including billionaire George Soros.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Christopher McGraugh on Tuesday ruled in Solomon’s favor and criticized Gardner’s office for “reckless, dilatory and intentional refusal to timely file a responsive pleading” in Solomon’s lawsuit after being given an additional 30 days to do so, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The judge could order fines or require Gardner’s office to pay Solomon’s legal fees.

A spokeswoman for Gardner said in an email Thursday the office is reviewing the order “and will respond in the context of the litigation.”

Solomon’s lawyer, Dave Roland of the Freedom Center of Missouri, said McGraugh’s ruling effectively says“these were knowing and purposeful violations” of the Sunshine Law.

A lawyer for the circuit attorney’s office in June and July filed motions to dismiss Solomon’s lawsuit saying the office’s custodian of records never received Solomon’s records request.