Kline even assured a deputy that a judge had given Kline approval to take the abortion records. The judge later testified under oath that he had done no such thing.
In April 2007, after the judge discovered what had happened and ordered the abortion records returned, Kline was asked at a court hearing if he had kept any copies. Kline responded that he had not. According to the complaint, his office had in fact produced summaries of all the medical records.
Kline later testified that he had “a summary of three records” when in fact he had summaries of 60 of the Tiller records.
On top of all of this, he told the disciplinary administrator during the ethics investigation that the files were always “kept under lock and key,” despite the Kinko’s and dining room episodes.
Kline ultimately filed misdemeanor charges against Tiller in December 2006, alleging he had performed illegal late-term abortions. A judge threw out the case a day later. In 2009, Tiller was acquitted of more abortion-related charges brought by Kline’s Democratic successor.
Here’s the full ethics complaint:
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