Calls Mount For Governor Greitens To Resign

JEFFERSON CITY, MO — More lawmakers are calling for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens to resign after a bipartisan report included allegations of sexual assault and violence by the governor against a former mistress shortly before he took office. A Missouri House Special Investigative Committee published the report Wednesday, despite a request from the governor to delay its release until after his trail for invasion of privacy in May.

The governor has been charged with taking a non-consensual, partially-naked photo of his former hair dresser, with whom he was having an affair. According to her, he threatened to release the photo if she went public with details of their affair.

The House investigative committee interviewed multiple witnesses, including the governor's ex-mistress, her ex-husband, and a close friend, and found them credible. The governor declined to be interviewed.

Rep. Ann Wagner, who represents Missouri's second district in the U.S. Congress, called the allegations against the governor "disturbing" and said, "The transcripts paint the picture of a vulnerable woman and a man who preyed on that vulnerability. I am disgusted, disheartened, and I believe Governor Greitens in unfit to lead our state."

Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Missouri's only other woman in Congress, also called the allegations "disgusting" and said they call into question the governor's character. "This is not behavior befit for a leader in Missouri or anywhere else for that matter," she wrote on Facebook.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican, called the allegations impeachable, but said Greitens should resign before it comes to that.

"The House Investigative Committee's Report contains shocking, substantial, and corroborated evidence of wrongdoing by Governor Greitens," Hawley said. "The conduct the report details is certainly impeachable, in my judgment, and the House is well within its rights to proceed on that front. But the people of Missouri should not be put through that ordeal. Governor Greitens should resign immediately."

Missouri Republican State Sen. Rob Schaaf has gone so far as to write a letter to President Trump, asking him to call on Greitens to resign. The letter was signed by Schaaf and two other Republican state senators, Doug Libla and Gary Romine.

"I'm sure you have been made aware of the events yesterday regarding [Greitens]," Schaaf told the president, saying that beyond the general outrage at the allegations, "This situation has hurt our state, and our citizens are losing faith in the integrity of their government."

"It appears that Governor Greitens will refuse to resign no matter what damage his refusal is causing," Schaaf wrote. "... As it stands, we are facing many agonizing months dealing with the Governor's criminal trial and possibly the spectacle of impeachment as well as other significant ongoing investigations."

Schaaf said he hopes the Commander-in-Chief can convince Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, to resign.

Rep. Todd Richardson, the Republican House speaker, said he plans to seek a special legislative session to consider disciplinary action against the governor, which may include impeachment.

Read more about the allegations against Greitens here.

Photo: Missouri Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley (L-R), Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens listen to U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally at the St. Charles Convention Center in November 2017. (Whitney Curtis/News/Getty Images)