Greitens’ attorneys expected to appear in court for Confide app hearing

UPDATE: A Cole County judge will now consider whether or not to dismiss the lawsuit filed on behalf of the Sunshine Project.

The governor’s attorney, Bob Thompson, argued that they produced some records that were available, but the ones that were deleted by the app could not be.

Thompson said it doesn’t become a record if it’s not retained and even if there is a problem with them not being produced, that’s a situation for the Attorney General’s office or another government official to investigate, not a private citizen.

The Attorney General’s Office did conduct an investigation and didn’t find the office’s use of the app to be illegal.

Pedroli said that no one who works in government should be able to ever destory evidence of the work they do. He also disputed the claim that this is for an official to bring forward. He said a resident should be able to file a suit under the law.

The judge will consider both sides and could have a decision as soon as the end of next week.

ORIGINAL STORY: Gov. Eric Greitens’ attorneys are expected to appear in court on Friday afternoon in reference to the Confide app lawsuit.

ABC 17 previously reported that Greitens and members of his staff were caught using a confidential messaging app to communicate. The Confide app sends messages designed to be read by the recipient and no one else. Messages on the app “self-destruct” after they are read, and cannot be captured by screenshot.

Two St. Louis attorneys filed a lawsuit against the governor’s office claiming he was skirting open record laws.

“The problem is, that communication is shredded,” said Mark Pedroli, one of the attorneys who sued the governor over use of the app. “There’s no way for your honor or this court to know what these communications were about.”

The hearing will begin at 3 p.m. in the Division 1 Courtroom in the Cole County Courthouse.