JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri lawmakers were to open a monthlong special session Friday focused on investigating allegations against Gov. Eric Greitens, with the potential of trying to impeach him.
The special session comes at the end of a week in which one prosecutor opted against charging Greitens with filing a false campaign finance report and another prosecutor dropped an invasion-of-privacy charge related to an extramarital affair. The Republican governor has repeatedly denied any criminal wrongdoing.
A look at some of the allegations:
VETERANS’ CHARITY
Greitens faces a felony charge of tampering with computer data for allegedly disclosing to his political fundraiser a list of top donors to The Mission Continues without the permission of the veterans’ charity he founded. The charge says the incident occurred in April 2015.
The Associated Press first reported in October 2016 - a month before Greitens’ election - that his campaign had accessed a charity list containing the names, emails and phone numbers of individuals, corporations and other nonprofit organizations who gave at least $1,000 to The Mission Continues. The AP reported that Greitens’ campaign had raised nearly $2 million from those who had previously given significant amounts to the veterans’ charity.
Greitens acknowledged in an April 2017 settlement with the Missouri Ethics Commission that his campaign had used the charity donor list. He amended his campaign finance reports to show the list as an in-kind donation valued at $600 received in March 2015 from then-campaign manager Danny Laub.
But Laub testified this year to Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office that he wasn’t the source of the donor list.
A House investigatory committee report released May 2 indicates that Greitens himself received the donor list in 2014 while CEO of the charity so he could call key supporters to explain he was stepping down. The report said Greitens later directed political aides to work off the charity’s list to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign - even though he had signed an agreement never to disclose the charity’s confidential donor information.
On Friday , Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson decided not to charge Greitens with filing a false campaign finance report about the donor list, although Hawley’s office had suggested there was probable cause to do so.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner on Monday abruptly dropped a felony invasion-of-privacy charge alleging Greitens had taken a photo of an at least partially nude woman without her consent in March 2015 and transmitted it in a way that could be accessed by a computer. Gardner has said the charge could be refiled.
The woman, who is Greitens’ former hairdresser, has said Greitens bound her hands to exercise rings, blindfolded her and removed her clothing before taking the picture and threatening to disclose it if she ever spoke of the incident. Authorities have not released her name.
Greitens’ affair became public on Jan. 10 when St. Louis television station KMOV aired portions of an audio recording secretly made by the woman’s ex-husband in which she told him about her interaction with Greitens.
Following Greitens’ indictment Feb. 22, the House created a special committee to investigate the governor. It released a graphic report April 11 containing testimony from the woman alleging that Greitens may have coerced her into oral sex after taking the unwanted photo and had slapped and shoved her during subsequent sexual encounters.
Greitens has acknowledged having a consensual affair with the woman but has denied any violence. He has not directly answered questions about whether he took the photo.
Gardner dropped the charge after a judge ruled she would have to answer questions under oath from Greitens’ attorneys.
CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES
The House investigatory committee went to court Thursday to try to enforce a subpoena seeking documents from Greitens’ campaign committee and an organization called A New Missouri that promotes Greitens’ agenda. A New Missouri conceals the identity of its donors.
The House court filing said the panel is looking into whether Greitens’ used the committees “to circumvent Missouri’s campaign finance disclosure laws.”
The May 2 House committee report also indicated that Greitens had consulted and paid political operatives before he officially created a campaign finance committee in February 2015. Missouri law requires such committees to be formed when a candidate spends or raises more than $500.
BOOK GRANT
Washington University in St. Louis said this month that it is reviewing whether Greitens properly used the grant funding he received to write and promote his 2015 book, “Resilience.”
The university served as the administrator for a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The foundation’s grant agreement prohibits using funds “to influence the outcome of any specific public election,” and the university’s policies also bar grant funds from being used for campaign activities.
The school announced its review after the May 2 House report included testimony in which Laub said he was paid both by Greitens and through the grant in early 2015 to simultaneously promote Greitens’ political aspirations and the release of his book.
TEXT MESSAGES
A lawsuit against Greitens in Cole County alleges he violated the state’s open records law while using a cellphone app that automatically deletes messages after they are read. The Confide app prevents recipients from saving, forwarding, printing or taking screenshots of messages.
Hawley also launched an investigation last year after The Kansas City Star reported Greitens and some of his staff had Confide accounts. Hawley’s report, released March 1, said it didn’t appear Greitens’ staff violated records laws. But Hawley said he lacked authority to issue subpoena-like demands compelling people to provide information while investigating alleged Sunshine Law or record-retention law violations. Hawley has said he would reopen the investigation if granted such authority.
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