Greitens says his confidence in prosecutorial system is ‘shaken, not broken’
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Governor Eric Greitens has been indicted by a City of St. Louis Grand Jury.
The news was announced by the City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner on Thursday afternoon.
According to a news release, the Republican governor was indicted on a first-degree felony invasion of privacy charge for an incident that took place on March 21, 2015, in the City of St. Louis.
That charge is assumed to be related to the affair the Governor admitted to having in 2015, in which he allegedly took a picture of a bound and partially nude woman with whom he was having an affair with at the time and threatened to blackmail her if she made the affair public.
“Under Missouri law, the Grand Jury has found probable cause to believe that Governor Greitens violated Missouri Statute 565.252, which was in place at the time of the violation. The statute has a special three-year statute of limitations per 565.255.”
The law makes it a felony if a person transmits an image or video in such a way that allows access to that image or video via a computer.
“As I have stated before, it is essential for residents of the City of St. Louis and our state to have confidence in their leaders,” Gardner said in a statement. “They must know that the Office of the Circuit Attorney will hold public officials accountable in the same manner as any other resident of our city. Both parties and the people of St. Louis deserve a thorough investigation of these allegations.”
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Greitens was taken into custody Thursday by St. Louis City deputies, and officials confirmed that he was booked at the St. Louis Justice Center.
“In forty years of public and private practice, I have never seen anything like this,” Edward L. Dowd, Jr. said. His firm is representing Greitens in the matter. “The charges against my client are baseless and unfounded. My client is absolutely innocent. We will be filing a motion to dismiss.”
After 6 p.m. on Thursday, the Governor released the following statement:
“As I have said before, I made a personal mistake before I was Governor. I did not commit a crime. With today’s disappointing and misguided political decision, my confidence in our prosecutorial system is shaken, but not broken. I know this will be righted soon. The people of Missouri deserve better than a reckless liberal prosecutor who uses her office to score political points. I look forward to the legal remedies to reverse this action. This will not for a moment deter me from doing the important work of the great people of Missouri.”
Following the indictment, the Democratic Governors Association’s Executive Director Elisabeth Pearson issued the following statement, calling on the Republican Governors Association to remove Greitens from its executive council.
The allegations against the Republican governor first became public on the night of his second State of the State address, in a special report by St. Louis’ CBS affiliate KMOV.
The ex-husband of the hairdresser that Greitens had an extramarital affair with delivered an audio recording of the woman confessing the affair and accusing Greitens of threatening to blackmail her.
Since then, the woman has repeatedly avoided any attempts from the media to comment on the matter or participate in any interviews, with her lawyer saying that the audio was recorded without her knowledge and released by her now-ex-husband without her giving consent.
Following the allegations being made public, Gardner announced that her office would be investigating the claims. The extent of that investigation became abundantly clear when investigators appeared at the State Capitol in mid-February.
Investigators expand Greitens probe, begin interviewing lawmakers
To represent him in the circuit attorney’s inquiries, Greitens hired St. Louis law firm Dowd Bennett, and in the last week, a statehouse lobbyist was hired to assist.
Greitens has weathered several calls for his resignation since the news of his affair broke but has denied any rumors that he would step down.
Hours after the news of the indictment broke, House leadership announced their plan to move forward with an investigation.
In a joint statement issued Thursday evening, House Speaker Todd Richardson, Speaker Pro Tem Elijah Haahr, and Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo stated:
“We will carefully examine the facts contained in the indictment and answer the question as to whether or not the governor can lead our state while a felony case moves forward. The people of Missouri deserve no less. We will begin the process of tasking a group of legislators to investigate these serious charges.”
Following indictment, House will open investigation into Governor
It’s worth noting that in Missouri, indicted governors may continue to serve. If the House does in fact vote to impeach, then statute says they are suspended from office until acquittal.
Attorney says grand jury investigating Greitens’ affair, but what exactly does the grand jury do?
As of 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, Missouri Case.net shows that the Governor’s bond was set, with Greitens providing a written statement and being allowed to freely travel anywhere in the United States. He is scheduled to return to the Carnahan Courthouse on March 16 at 9 a.m.
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
