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Hafner stands by previous testimony, talks of Greitens conversion to a Republican

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Testifying publically under oath, Michael Hafner said he stands by everything he said previously.

The former staffer for Gov. Eric Greitens has said that he had conversations with the campaign about concealing donors, his advice to form a campaign committee was disregarded.

In his second time testifying to the House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight, Hafner was asked questions by the now-ten member committee for more than four hours.

On Tuesday, Hafner also indicated Greitens went through a period in 2014 where he learned Republican policies, talking points, and such.

“At the time, I thought his conversion was sincere,” Hafner said. He added that it appeared that Greitens modified certain parts of his beliefs to match those of the electorate.

Hafner, again, went over conversations he had about fundraising.

He said that he was directed by Greitens to have conservations with donors who intended to raise “significant amounts of money” and those conversations involved ways to conceal the identity of donors.

On Greitens suggestion Hafner spoke with Monu Joseph, a California-based venture capitalist. In that conversation, they discussed ways to bundled donations and donations through LLC in order so that the donors’ identity wouldn’t be revealed.

Hafner also testified that they discussed how those living abroad could contribute to Greitens campaign. Though Greitens’ time as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University he connected with several individuals including Joseph — who did contribute to Greitens’ campaign — and a person named Alex Rogers, an individual who resides in Hong Kong at the time. Hafner is unaware if those living abroad where United States citizens or not. Foreign contributions to elections are prohibited by law.

While he had those discussions while consulting with Greitens’ campaign, he is unaware if any LLC was created to specifically conceal donations and if any foreign national contributed through an LLC or a different entity.

Hafner stated that he consulted with attorneys the campaign had on retainer about donors and such. He didn’t disclose who the attorneys are other than they are based out of Washington D.C.

The scheduled meetings for the committee have been canceled following the resignation of Greitens on Tuesday evening.