JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Latest on allegations against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (all times local):
7:40 p.m.
Missouri’s Republican legislative leadership is calling for fellow GOP Gov. Eric Greitens to resign, but the governor says he won’t quit.
Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, House Speaker Todd Richardson and other House leaders called on Greitens to step down Tuesday after the state’s attorney general found evidence that Greitens may have committed a felony in his use of a charity donor list for political purposes.
Richard also called for impeachment proceedings to begin immediately.
Greitens issued a statement Tuesday saying he won’t resign.
Greitens already faces a felony invasion-of-privacy charge in St. Louis for allegedly taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom Greitens said he had an extramarital affair.
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1:30 p.m.
A spokeswoman for The Mission Continues says Gov. Eric Greitens had access to its donor list as CEO of the charity but did not have permission to later use the list for political purposes.
The Mission Continues says it’s been cooperating with an investigation by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who announced Tuesday that he had referred Grietens for potential criminal prosecution.
Hawley says there is probable cause to believe Greitens took a computer list of top donors to the charity he founded and used it to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign in 2015. He says it’s up to the St. Louis prosecutor to decide whether to charge Greitens.
Greitens said allegations that he potentially the broke law by using the donor list for his campaign are “ridiculous.”
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12:30 p.m.
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens says allegations that he potentially broke the law by using a donor list from a charity he founded are “ridiculous.”
Greitens in a Tuesday statement said he’ll get rid of what he described as “false allegations.”
Fellow Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley announced Tuesday that his investigation into a veterans charity founded by Greitens found evidence that Greitens may have committed a felony in his use of its donor list for political purposes.
Hawley says it’s up to the St. Louis circuit attorney to decide whether to charge Greitens with a crime.
Greitens in response ripped into both Hawley, who is running for U.S. Senate this year, and St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.
Greitens says Hawley is “better at press conferences than the law.” He called Gardner a liberal prosecutor.
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12:15 p.m.
The leader of the Missouri House Democrats is renewing her call for Gov. Eric Greitens to step down or be impeached in response to an announcement from the state attorney general that evidence shows Greitens’ use of a charity donor list potentially broke the law.
House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty on Tuesday said Greitens should spare Missouri residents the ordeal of impeachment and instead resign. If he doesn’t step down, she says the House should immediately act to remove him.
Attorney General Josh Hawley says his investigation into a veterans charity founded by Greitens found evidence that Greitens may have committed a felony in his use of its donor list for political purposes. Hawley says he’s turned evidence over to St. Louis prosecutors to decide whether to file charges.
Greitens already faces a felony invasion-of-privacy charge in St. Louis for allegedly taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom Greitens said he had an extramarital affair.
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11:50 a.m.
St. Louis prosecutors say they’re reviewing evidence provided by the Missouri attorney general’s office to determine whether another felony charge should be filed against Gov. Eric Greitens.
Attorney General Josh Hawley announced Tuesday that his investigation into a veterans charity founded by Greitens found evidence that Greitens may have committed a felony in his use of its donor list for political purposes.
Hawley says it’s up to the St. Louis circuit attorney to decide whether to charge Greitens with a crime.
A spokeswoman for Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner says St. Louis prosecutors met with officials from the attorney general’s office on Monday, and are reviewing evidence. Spokeswoman Susan Ryan declined further comment.
Greitens already faces a felony invasion-of-privacy indictment in St. Louis for allegedly taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom Greitens said he had an affair in 2015, before he was elected.
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11:40 a.m.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley says he believes there’s enough evidence to bring a criminal charge and pursue impeachment of Gov. Eric Greitens for allegedly using a charity donor list for political purposes.
Hawley said Tuesday that his investigation found probable cause to believe Grietens took a donor list from The Mission Continues without the permission of the veterans charity he founded, and used that list for his gubernatorial campaign in 2015.
He said he referred the case to the St. Louis prosecutor for a potential felony charge of tampering with computer data. He also referred the matter to a House committee that will be recommending whether to impeach Greitens.
The Associated Press first reported in October 2016 that Greitens’ campaign had obtained a list of top donors to The Mission Continues and raised nearly $2 million for his campaign from donors on that list.
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11 a.m.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley says his investigation into a veterans charity founded by Gov. Eric Greitens revealed evidence that Greitens’ use of the charity’s donor list broke the law.
Hawley said Tuesday that it’s up to the St. Louis prosecutor to decide whether to charge Greitens with a crime.
The Associated Press first reported in October 2016 that Greitens’ campaign had obtained a list of top donors to The Mission Continues. The AP found that Greitens’ campaign had raised nearly $2 million from donors who previously gave significant amounts to The Mission Continues. Hawley says his office found evidence that Greitens transmitted that list without permission in violation of the law.
Greitens already faces a felony invasion-of-privacy charge in St. Louis for allegedly taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom Greitens said he had an affair.
Separately, a special House investigatory committee is to recommend whether to pursue impeachment proceedings against Greitens.
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9:20 a.m.
A spokeswoman says a request for the Missouri attorney general’s office to recuse itself from investigating a charity founded by Republican Gov. Eric Greitens is “frivolous.”
Greitens’ attorney Edward L. Dowd Jr. has raised concerns over Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley’s call last week for the governor to resign. Dowd argued that the attorney general’s investigation of veterans charity The Mission Continues is compromised because of that.
Hawley called for Greitens to step down after allegations of sexual misconduct outlined in a House investigatory report. Attorney general spokeswoman Mary Compton says that’s not related to Hawley’s investigation into the charity’s possible violations of the state’s consumer protection and charitable registration and reporting laws.
A growing number of Missouri elected officials have called on Greitens to step down over allegations of unwanted sexual aggression against a woman with whom he has said he had a consensual extramarital affair in 2015.
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11:40 p.m.
Missouri lawmakers are returning to work at the Capitol amid turmoil in Republican Gov. Eric Greitens’ office.
A growing number of Missouri elected officials have called on Greitens to step down over allegations of unwanted sexual aggression against a woman with whom he has said he had a consensual extramarital affair in 2015. Greitens faces a felony invasion-of-privacy charge for allegedly taking a nonconsensual photograph of the woman while she was partially nude.
Greitens’ troubles threaten to distract from Republicans’ agenda. Senate Democrats proposed blocking all bills from going to Greitens’ desk in protest of claims against him. But Republican legislative leaders insist they won’t let strife in the governor’s office derail work to pass a budget and enact other policy changes.
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