Ex-wife accuses top Missouri GOP Senate candidate Greitens of abuse
By BRIAN SLODYSKO, JIM SALTER and SUMMER BALLENTINE
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The ex-wife of Missouri GOP Senate candidate Eric Greitens has accused him of physical abuse.
That’s according to an affidavit filed Monday in the former couple’s child custody case in Missouri. Sheena Greitens also alleges in the affidavit that Greitens showed “unstable and coercive behavior” in the months leading up to his 2018 resignation as Missouri’s governor following a sex scandal. She alleges that associates at one point took steps to limit his access to firearms.
In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, Greiten’s campaign manager, Dylan Johnson, called the allegations “completely false” and “politically-motivated.”
Greitens’ attorney Gary Stamper called the accusations a lie in comments to ABC 17 News.
“The only audience that matters now is the judge who approved the parties’ agreement and has the power to change it,” Stamper said.
U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville), who is running against Greitens in the Republican primary for Senate, released a video statement on Twitter.
“Real men never abuse women and children, period,” Hartzler said in the video. She encouraged her opponent to “get out of the Senate race and get some help.”
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, another candidate for the Republican nomination, called the allegations “disgusting and sickening” in a statement released on social media.
Another Republican in the race, state Sen. Dave Schatz, called Greitens “unfit to serve in public office.”
Democratic candidates for the Senate seat, Lucas Kunce and Scott Sifton, also issued statements critical of Greitens.
“Eric Greitens is unfit for office,” Sifton said. “His well-established pattern of conduct shows he has no business representing Missouri. I called on him to resign as Governor four years ago, and today I am calling on him to withdraw from the U.S. Senate race.”
Sheena Greitens says in the affidavit that the former governor knocked her done and took her cellphone, wallet and keys from her during a 2018 argument at their home. The affidavit also claims Eric Greitens abused one the couple’s 3-year-old son by “cuffing him across the face” and yanking him by the hair.
Sheena Greitens also alleges her ex-husband threatened her.
ABC 17 News Anchor Lucas Geisler and Digital Content Director Matthew Sanders contributed to this report.
