Greitens Investigation Report Will Be Released Wednesday

JEFFERSON CITY, MO — The Missouri House committee investigating Gov. Eric Greitens for possible invasion of privacy released its report today at 5 p.m., despite a request from the governor to delay the release until after the conclusion of his trial in May.

Read what the report contained here.

In a letter to the committee's chairman, Republican Rep. Jay Barnes, Greitens' attorney Edward Dowd wrote that information contained in the report will be proven incorrect over the coming days and weeks.

Dowd called the prosecution a "sham," and said cross examination of witnesses will reveal the governor to be innocent. Nonetheless, the report will be made public and, depending on its contents, could lead to the Republican governor's impeachment.

Greitens has been accused of taking a non-consensual, partially-naked photo of a woman he was having an affair with. According to the woman, he threatened to release the photo if she went public with details of their affair. Both Greitens and his mistress were married to other people at the time, and Greitens was already exploring his run for office.

The governor admitted the affair in January, calling it a "deeply personal mistake" in a joint statement with his wife. But he denied trying to blackmail his mistress, instead blaming a "reckless liberal prosecutor" for the case against him.

Greitens' attorneys deposed the governor's former mistress last week. They said on Monday her testimony indicated that she never saw Greitens with a camera or phone and that her memory is fuzzy when it comes to the incident.

An attorney for the woman accused the governor's lawyers of conducting a smear campaign to discredit her testimony at trial. St. Louis Circuit attorney Kim Gardner agreed. A spokesperson for Gardner's office said the woman's testimony had been cherry picked in an attempt to attack her credibility.

A judge issued a partial gag order Tuesday to prevent attorneys for either side from revealing any additional material obtained in deposition before the trial.

That won't affect the House committee's report, which Republican lawmakers say they are not expecting to exonerate Greitens.

At a press conference in February, Barnes said the committee's purpose would be to determine the underlying facts of the indictment and that it would be fair, firm and timely in that undertaking.

Just two months later, the committee certainly seems to have kept the last of those promises. And, according to Democrats on the committee, it has kept the first two as well.

“Every member of this committee takes the job very seriously," said Democratic member Gina Mitten. "We are focusing on the investigation under the parameters of the resolution, and we take that very seriously and are doing our work in that regard."

She added that the committee's members, by and large, have been non-partisan in their investigation and said the committee's work will continue even after the report is made public.

About a dozen Republicans have signed a petition calling on the governor to resign, and lawmakers in both parties have been sharply critical of Greitens.

“I still think the appropriate thing for the governor to do is to step down because he’s not been an effective governor in these last few weeks he’s been fighting this case,” Rep. Shamed Dogan told Fox 2 St. Louis. Dogan is one Republican to sign the petition.

Democratic state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, who represents St. Louis, said last month that Greitens should go. "Missourians thought they voted for a person of character and integrity, and instead they got a liar and alleged criminal."

Speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon, Greitens called the Republican-led investigation a political witch hunt and said the report is full of lies and falsehoods. Lawmakers who have already read the report called it disturbing.

Democratic Rep. Peter Merideth called for the governor to resign on Twitter.

I’ve read enough. Resign now or be impeached.
— Peter Merideth (@PeterforMO) April 11, 2018

The report has been released. Read what it contained here.

Photo: Gov. Eric Greitens and his wife Sheena in 2011. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images for GQ)