CLAYTON 鈥 St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, after receiving guidance from the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office, said federal subpoenas to the county will remain closed records for now.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith, in an email to County Counselor Beth Orwick on Tuesday afternoon, said, 鈥淚t is St. Louis County鈥檚 decision whether or not those grand jury subpoenas are disclosable under the Missouri Sunshine Law or other applicable state or local law.鈥
Goldsmith was responding to a two-page letter sent by Page on Monday that asked how to respond to Councilman Tim Fitch鈥檚 request that the county make public any federal subpoenas received since Jan. 1, 2020.
Page鈥檚 office provided a copy of Goldsmith鈥檚 email after a reporter asked for clarification on an exchange between Page and Fitch during the County Council meeting Tuesday night.
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Fitch requested the records in the wake of the indictment last week of Tony Weaver Sr., a Page appointee accused of attempting to defraud a small business grant program. Orwick denied Fitch鈥檚 request, saying the records were confidential. Weaver has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Page on Monday referred Fitch鈥檚 request to Goldsmith in a separate letter to the federal prosecutor that also accused the councilman, a Republican, of 鈥渁ttempting to interfere with a federal investigation.鈥 The letter also sharply criticized Jane Dueker, an attorney challenging Page in the Democratic primary.
Fitch, during the council meeting Tuesday, accused Page of ducking his question and asked again, adding he wanted an answer whether Page had gotten 鈥渁ll of that information that we鈥檙e not going to get.鈥
鈥淚 have not received a response, so I will ask the county executive, do you plan on responding?鈥 Fitch said.
Page said the county 鈥渄id receive a response from Hal Goldsmith today, and he did recognize that we could now say that we have received subpoenas and it was a federal investigation.鈥
That investigation, Page said, was limited to the scope of the federal indictment unsealed and made public June 7.
鈥淭he only people that know about the investigation are the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office,鈥 Page said. 鈥淲e know what we read in the indictment, I read the same indictment that you did, this indictment is about a former county employee who was attempting to influence the small business relief program in two county council districts.鈥
Fitch asked whether Goldsmith also said 鈥渨hether or not you could share those (subpoenas) with the council.鈥
Page said, 鈥淕oldsmith鈥檚 response was that there is an ongoing federal investigation and that he would recommend the county counselor鈥檚 office follow the state statute.鈥
He deferred to Orwick, who again said the records were confidential but offered to speak with Fitch in further detail behind closed doors. It was not immediately clear Tuesday night what that conversation entailed.
Orwick鈥檚 office has also declined a separate Sunshine request submitted by the Post-Dispatch, citing a provision of the state law that allows governments to close records of 鈥渓egal actions, causes of action or litigation involving a public governmental body and any confidential or privileged communications between a public governmental body or its representatives and its attorneys.鈥
The city of St. Louis recently released federal subpoenas June 1 in response to a records request from the Post-Dispatch after Alderman John Collins-Muhammad resigned. Collins-Muhammad was one of three former aldermen indicted on federal bribery charges June 3 by Goldsmith鈥檚 office.
Asked after the council meeting what made the cases different, Page deferred to Orwick but said he 鈥渨ill trust her judgment.鈥
He said Goldsmith鈥檚 鈥渞ecommendation is to interpret the Sunshine Law and state statutes, I trust our county counselor and I trust our U.S. Attorney to make the right decision.鈥
鈥淚 will trust her judgment and I鈥檓 not going to argue with her when she makes a decision about how to handle a federal investigation of a former county employee or how to respond to subpoenas.鈥澛
Posted at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 14.