Eric Greitens Is Officially No Longer The Governor Of Missouri

MISSOURI — Eric Greitens is no longer the governor of Missouri. His resignation was effective at 5 p.m. Friday.

Greitens' letter of resignation, addressed to Secretary of State John Ashcroft, consists of a single sentence: "I resign the office of governor effective today, June 1, 2018, at 5:00 p.m."

Our office has received a letter of resignation from the Governor. pic.twitter.com/7rJzIwH9Lx
— Missouri SOS Office (@MissouriSOS) June 1, 2018

Greitens announced Tuesday that he would step down in the wake of an ongoing political and legal scandal. He was indicted in February after his former hair dresser accused him of taking a non-consensual, partially-naked photo and using it to blackmail her. Those charges were unexpectedly dropped earlier in May, just as the trial was scheduled to begin. But a special prosecutor was appointed last week to consider refiling the charges.

Greitens has pleaded not guilty and — though he admitted to having an affair with his accuser — he has denied any criminal wrongdoing.

Greitens had also been accused of lying about campaign filings and violating campaign finance law related to his use of a charity donor list to raise money for his run for governor. He was indicted on those charges in April, but St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced Wednesday she would dismiss those charges after Greitens resigned, calling it a "fair and just resolution."

Greitens didn't leave office without signing a few last-minute bills into law. Or, rather, 77 of them, Fox 2 reports. They range from measures increasing that age at which teenagers are tried as adults and repealing the deadline for filing sex crimes charges, to others modifying tax provisions and changing bingo regulations.

Greitens' replacement, Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Parsons is expected to take the oath of office Friday evening.

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