JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Latest on the investigation of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (all times local):
8:40 p.m.
An attorney for a Missouri House investigatory panel says a lawyer for Gov. Eric Greitens has impugned the integrity of the House in an attempt to divert attention from an investigation into the governor.
Lawyer Edward “Chip” Robertson Jr. released his statement Thursday in response to Greitens’ campaign attorney Catherine Hanaway, who is a former House speaker.
Hanaway had suggested that investigatory committee chairman Rep. Jay Barnes had made himself a “material witness” to his own investigation. Among other things, she cited his receipt of an audio recording in which a woman explains to her husband that Greitens had bound, blindfolded and taken a photo of her partially nude during a sexual encounter in 2015. Greitens has denied criminal wrongdoing.
Lawmakers have been investigating the motives and means by which the recording became public.
___
5 p.m.
An attorney for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is suggesting that the chairman of a House investigatory committee should be a witness in his own investigation.
The suggestion Thursday by Greitens’ campaign attorney Catherine Hanaway is similar to the tactic that Greitens’ lawyers used successfully in his now-dismissed criminal invasion-of-privacy case.
Hanaway says that Rep. Jay Barnes is now a “material witness” in the House investigation into whether Greitens should be impeached. That’s partly because Barnes said he received an audio recording in which a woman told her husband of a sexual encounter with Greitens in 2015.
Earlier this month, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner dropped a felony charge against Greitens after a judge approved a request from Greitens’ lawyers to question her as a potential witness in the case.
___
11:10 a.m.
Federal investigators have been briefed on allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations by Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.
During a legislative hearing Thursday, chairman Rep. Jay Barnes says he spoke to the FBI this year about the testimony of a former Greitens’ campaign aide who described attempts to conceal donors to Greitens’ campaign.
At Thursday’s hearing, attorney Al Watkins said he also provided information to the FBI. Watkins said that in early 2017 he gave the FBI an audio recording that a man made in which his wife described a sexual encounter with Greitens in March 2015.
Watkins said he also provided the FBI photos of cash he received in January 2018 from The Missouri Times publisher Scott Faughn related to the audio recording.
___
10:45 a.m.
A lawyer says he gave a recording of a woman detailing an extramarital affair with Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens to the FBI.
Attorney Al Watkins on Thursday told a Missouri House legislative committee investigating Greitens that he provided the recording to authorities in January or February 2017.
A spokeswoman for the FBI declined to say if Greitens is under investigation.
Watkins represents the ex-husband of the woman Greitens said he had an affair with in 2015, before his election. The ex-husband secretly recorded a conversation with his then-wife, during which she described a sexual encounter with Greitens.
Greitens was indicted for alleged felony invasion of privacy related to that encounter. The woman said Greitens took an at least partially nude photo of her and threatened to release it if she spoke about their encounter. The St. Louis prosecutor dropped the case last week, although she referred it to a special prosecutor for consideration.
___
10:20 a.m.
An attorney for the ex-husband of a woman who had an affair with Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens says he was paid $100,000 cash that he was told originated from a wealthy out-of-state Republican.
Lawyer Al Watkins testified Thursday to a legislative investigatory committee that The Missouri Times publisher Scott Faughn provided the cash in January 2017.
The payments occurred as Watkins was working with other media to publicize an audio recording the husband made in which his wife described a sexual encounter with Greitens.
Faughn testified Wednesday that he paid the money to purchase the recording but declined to say how he got the money.
Watkins testified that Faughn implied it was to help cover the husband’s legal fees and hopefully to help provide a soft landing for the man.
___
10 a.m.
The chairman of a special legislative committee investigating Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens says it is “disgusting” that defense lawyers asked a woman involved in a 2015 affair with Greitens if she sent photos to a porn site.
The committee is investigating allegations related to the affair that took place before Greitens was elected, including allegations that he took a partially nude photo of the woman during an encounter in the basement of his St. Louis home in March 2015. The Legislature is meeting in special session to consider impeachment of the Republican governor.
On Wednesday, the committee reviewed questioning of the woman by Greitens’ lawyers about photos on a porn site. The woman said she never uploaded photos to a porn site, and the committee said the photos were clearly not her.
Chairman Jay Barnes, a Republican, called the questioning “disgusting.”
___
8:40 a.m.
Attorneys for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens want lawmakers investigating the governor to issue a variety of subpoenas to probe more deeply into the source of a cash payment related to sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Greitens’ attorneys said in a letter to lawmakers that a key question remains unanswered after The Missouri Times publisher Scott Faughn testified Wednesday.
Faughn said he paid $120,000 cash to a lawyer representing the ex-husband of a woman who had an affair with Greitens, but he declined to say how he got the money. Faughn said most of the money was to purchase an audio recording the man made of his wife describing a sexual encounter with Greitens.
Greitens’ attorneys want subpoenas served to Faughn and several others to try to reveal the money source.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.