JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Latest on Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (all times local):
5:15 p.m.
Embattled Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens says his upcoming criminal trial will prove his innocence of an invasion of privacy charge stemming from an extramarital affair and allow him to move past the scandal. Experts say that’s far from certain, especially after new and even more troubling allegations emerged this week.
The Republican governor faces trial next month in St. Louis on a felony indictment accusing him of taking a lewd photo of the woman without her permission in 2015, before he was elected.
But details revealed in a legislative committee report shed new light on the affair. They include accusations of unwanted sexual aggression. Those allegations that have raised questions about whether additional charges are possible and whether lawmakers should seek to impeach Greitens.
Greitens faces mounting pressure from both Republicans and Democrats to resign.
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5 p.m.
Missouri Republican Gov. Eric Greitens has announced two new appointments to the state Ethics Commission.
If the Senate approves the appointments announced Friday, the commission would have enough members to take action on complaints, including one against the governor.
Greitens appointed Republican Bill Birkes and Democrat Wayne Henke. Henke is a former state representative from Troy. Birkes is a retired financial analyst.
The commission normally has six members, but has been operating with just three. At least four members are needed for the ethics commission to fully function.
A complaint against Greitens pending with the commission accuses his campaign of falsely reporting how it gained access to a list of donors in 2015 from a charity Greitens co-founded. The complaint also accuses the campaign of failing to disclose that it received the charity’s email list.
The commission’s next meeting is April 25.
Greitens spokesman Parker Briden wrote in an email that in addition to the ethics appointments, the governor continued to work on state business in his office throughout the week.
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4:45 p.m.
A spokeswoman for President Donald Trump says allegations against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens are “very concerning.”
During a briefing with reporters on Friday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders was asked about a letter from three Republican Missouri state senators to Trump, urging the president to ask Greitens to resign. Trump and Greitens are both Republicans.
Several prominent Missouri lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, have called on Greitens to step down over allegations that he coerced sex acts and slapped, grabbed and shoved a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair in 2015, before his election.
Greitens has said he’ll continue to serve and that allegations of violence or sexual assault are false.
Sanders said she didn’t have an official response but says the allegations are something the White House is taking very seriously.
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2:30 p.m.
A judge’s ruling on a request to dismiss an invasion of privacy indictment of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens stemming from an extramarital affair won’t happen before next week.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison says he would not rule Friday or this weekend. Burlison says he will provide advance notice of any ruling and will make it in open court.
The Republican governor is due in court on the felony charge next month. But on Thursday, his attorneys renewed a motion to dismiss the case, alleging misconduct and incompetence by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.
Gardner’s office filed a motion later Thursday calling the allegations an attempted distraction.
Greitens also is under fire after Wednesday’s release of a special legislative committee’s report in which the woman involved in the affair alleged he coerced her into sex acts and spanked, slapped and shoved her. Greitens says allegations are lies.
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10:35 a.m.
The Missouri Democratic Party is renewing efforts to tie Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley to embattled Republican Gov. Eric Greitens.
A Friday release from the party criticizes Attorney General Hawley for not doing enough or acting too slow to check into allegations of misconduct against the governor.
Hawley’s office found no wrongdoing after investigating use of a secretive message-deleting app by governor’s office staff. Hawley also recently launched a pending investigation into The Mission Continues, which Greitens founded.
Hawley is among those who’ve called for Greitens to resign amid allegations that he slapped, grabbed and shoved a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
Hawley is running for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. McCaskill has also called for Greitens to step down.
Hawley’s campaign spokeswoman has said McCaskill is pushing false information about his record.
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9:30 a.m.
Missouri House Democrats say they want to begin the process of impeaching Gov. Eric Greitens immediately instead of waiting until the end of the Legislature’s annual session.
Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty on Friday said Democrats will consider supporting a special session only if an investigative committee weighing impeachment begins work now and runs out of time.
Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson has said he wants lawmakers to reconvene after the regular session’s May 18 end to consider whether to impeach Greitens. The governor faces mounting calls for his resignation following allegations that he slapped, grabbed and shoved a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair in 2015, before his election.
Greitens has said he’ll continue to serve and that allegations of violence or sexual assault are false.
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11 p.m.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is using similar wording as President Donald Trump to denounce accusations of unwanted sexual aggression.
But reaction from his fellow Republicans indicates Greitens may have a more difficult time than Trump surviving politically. Allegations about Trump’s behavior were known before his election, but Greitens had cultivated a campaign persona of an all-American hero.
Greitens is a former Rhodes Scholar, Navy SEAL officer, author and motivational speaker who ran for office on a pledge to clean up corruption.
A report released by a legislative committee investigating Greitens detailed testimony from a woman who said Greitens slapped, grabbed, shoved and threatened her during unwanted sexual encounters.
Greitens denies any violence or criminal wrongdoing in what he insists was a consensual relationship with the woman before he became governor.
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