“The Missouri Republican Party on Thursday denounced a GOP candidate for governor with ties to the Ku Klux Klan, saying party officials will go to court if necessary to remove him from the ticket,” the AP reports.
Galloway Looks Likely to Run for Missouri Governor
State auditor Nicole Galloway (D) hammered Gov. Mike Parson (R) on a litany of issues “but saved her most withering critique for a new law Parson recently signed that criminalizes abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for victims of rape or incest,” the Kansas City Star reports.
Said Galloway: “Until now, a survivor of rape could decide what came next. Gov. Parson has taken that choice away from women, and instead a survivor must accept that her rapist could have parental rights.”
Although Parsons is credited for stablizing state government after the scandal-plagued Gov. Eric Greitens (R), Galloway said that isn’t enough: “Simply not being as awful as Eric Greitens is too low of a standard to strive for.”
Greitens Makes His Return… to the Navy
Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) “has told friends and supporters in recent weeks that he plans to deploy with the Navy to the Middle East in the fall and hopes his fourth book will be published later this year,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Greitens resigned from office a year ago next week, succumbing to an avalanche of scandals and criminal charges — including accusations that he engaged in violent and coercive sexual misconduct during a 2015 affair.”
Greitens Accuser Takes Stand Next Week
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “After three months of an almost-daily barrage of courtroom fireworks, the public will hear for the first time next week from a woman who has accused Missouri’s sitting governor of physical and sexual abuse, of taking a semi-nude picture of her without her consent and threatening to distribute the photo if she told anyone about their encounter.”
“The indictment of Gov. Eric Greitens (R) on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge in February has triggered an investigation by a Missouri House committee as well as calls for Greitens’ resignation and impeachment. He also faces a second felony charge of computer tampering for allegedly taking without permission a donor list from a charity he founded.”
Greitens Declines to Block Liberal Ballot Measures
Embattled Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) “is declining to block from the November ballot three initiatives that could boost Democratic turnout in the midterm,” the Washington Examiner reports.
“Greitens faces possible impeachment in the Republican-controlled state legislature over twin scandals involving an extramarital affair and mismanagement of a charity. But the governor is defiant, and in a move interpreted as a shot at Republicans demanding his resignation, he is choosing not to exercise his authority to shift a trio of popular Democratic initiatives to the August primary.”
“Republicans fret that the initiatives will supercharge Democratic turnout in the midterm, providing a lift to Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO).”
Accuser Will Testify Against Greitens
ABC News: “The woman, who has not been publicly identified, alleges that the married Greitens took an unauthorized photograph of her when she was partially nude, blindfolded and taped to an exercise machine during a sexual encounter in 2015. Prosecutors have said they do not possess the photo so the woman’s trial testimony is considered critical to their case.”
“Greitens has a host of problems besides the invasion-of-privacy criminal case. Shortly after that trial is to begin, the Missouri Legislature will initiate impeachment proceedings against the governor.”
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a forensic examiner was extracting data from Greitens’ cellphone in a locked courtroom.
Missouri Lawmakers Will Consider Greitens’ Impeachment
“The Missouri General Assembly has taken the historic step of calling itself back into special session to decide whether to impeach Gov. Eric Greitens (R),” the Kansas City Star reports.
“According to the petition signed by 138 House members and 29 senators — both more than the three-fourths required in each chamber to call a special session — lawmakers will consider the findings and recommendations of a House committee investigating Greitens, ‘including, but not limited to disciplinary actions against Gov. Eric R. Greitens.'”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “The unprecedented move comes a day after the House released a second scathing report on the governor and sets the state for the special session to start during the governor’s trial on felony invasion of privacy charges related to an extramarital affair he had in 2015.”
Greitens Lied About ‘Off-the-Books’ Campaign
Gov. Eric Greitens (R) “ran an off-the-books political campaign as early as 2014, took a charity donor list to raise campaign funds and ultimately lied about that list in a signed statement to the state’s ethics commission,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
“The findings are outlined in a 23-page report released Wednesday by a Missouri House committee investigating Greitens… The report contains evidence that Greitens and associates lied in campaign filings, a class A misdemeanor, and violated campaign finance law — a civil offense — when he operated a shadow campaign a year before filing required paperwork with election authorities.”
Kansas City Star: “It represents the latest in a growing set of accusations of criminal misconduct by Greitens, who is already facing two felony charges in St. Louis and calls for his impeachment in Jefferson City.”
Missouri Senate Race Is a Dead Heat
A new Emerson College Poll in Missouri has the closely watched Senate race between Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and likely challenger Josh Hawley (R) in a tie, 45% to 45% with 10% of voters undecided. Governor
Meanwhile, Gov. Eric Greitens (R), currently reeling from multiple scandals involving infidelity, blackmail, and campaign finance violations, has 33% to 46% approval rating, When asked what Greitens should do next, 36% want him to resign, 33% want the governor to remain in office, and 18% want him impeached, which means that 54% of Missouri voters want Greitens out as Governor.
Greitens Charged with Another Crime
“St. Louis prosecutors charged Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) with a felony for his use of a charity donor list for his 2016 political campaign, adding to the first-term governor’s legal woes,” the AP reports.
“The charge of tampering with computer data is in addition to an earlier charge alleging Greitens took and transmitted a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an extramarital affair in 2015.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Now the House is considering a special session that may lead to Greitens’ impeachment. The new charge will give lawmakers more material to weigh as they decide how to proceed on that front.”
Top Republicans Call on Greitens to Resign
“Leaders in Missouri’s GOP-controlled House issued a stinging rebuke of Republican Gov. Eric Greitens on Tuesday evening, calling on the state’s chief executive to resign as scandals continue to consume his administration,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
Greitens responded on Twitter: “I will not be resigning the Governor’s office. In three weeks, this matter will go to a court of law—where it belongs and where the facts will prove my innocence. Until then, I will do what the people of Missouri sent me here to do: to serve them and work hard on their behalf.”
Hawley Says Greitens Likely Committed Felony
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) announce that his office has uncovered potential criminal wrongdoing by Gov. Eric Greitens (R) and he has turned that evidence over to the St. Louis prosecutor, the Kansas City Star reports.
Hawley said that during the course of an investigation into a charity founded by Greitens, his office “uncovered evidence of wrongdoing that goes beyond Missouri’s charity laws” and indicates “potentially criminal acts were committed by Gov. Eric Greitens.”
Prosecutors Do Not Have Photo in Greitens Case
“Prosecutors in St. Louis do not possess the photograph that Gov. Eric Greitens (R) allegedly took of a woman without her consent,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Greitens faces a felony indictment for invasion of privacy based on allegations that in 2015 he photographed a woman while she was blindfolded and partly nude in an effort to keep her from talking about the extramarital affair. The case could hinge on whether prosecutors can prove the photo’s existence.”
“The governor has refused to directly answer whether he took it.”
Missouri Launches Impeachment Probe
“In a historic decision, the Missouri House formally launched an investigation Monday that could lead to the impeachment and ouster of Gov. Eric Greitens (R),” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
“House Speaker Todd Richardson (R) named seven members to a special committee that will lead the unprecedented probe of a Missouri chief executive.”
Greitens Talks About His Affair
The newly-released audio from an Associated Press interview with Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) is pretty remarkable. He says at the outset, “I want you guys to ask every question you have.”
But then he got the questions.
Greitens Says He Won’t Resign
In his first interview since acknowledging an extramarital affair, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) told the Associated Press that there was “no blackmail” and “no threat of violence” by him in what he described as a months-long “consensual relationship” with his former hairdresser.
Greitens added that he has no plans to resign from office as a result of the affair: “I’m staying. I’m staying.”
“Grietens did not directly say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when asked if he had bound and blindfolded and taken a photo of the woman. But he firmly denied that he had attempted to coerce the woman.”
FBI Opens Inquiry Into Greitens
The FBI recently opened an inquiry into Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) as he fights an allegation of blackmail and faces calls to resign just a year into his job, CNN reports.
GOP Lawmakers Call on Greitens to Resign
“At least four Republican lawmakers are calling for Gov. Eric Greitens (R) to resign after allegations that he blackmailed a woman in an effort to keep her quiet about an extramarital affair,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Greitens has admitted to the affair but has vehemently denied the allegations that in 2015 he took a nude photograph of a woman — while she was blindfolded and her hands were bound — and threatened to release it if she spoke about the affair.”
