House leaders eye special session to decide on punishment for governor

Leaders in Missouri’s House of Representatives will consider calling a special session to punish Gov. Eric Greitens.

Speaker of the House Todd Richardson (R-Poplar Bluff) said he would work with leaders in both chambers on the details of the session, as the special committee investigating the governor will continue its work into May.

“Their initial charge was not to make a recommendation,” Richardson said. “That charge will expand, and they will have the opportunity to come back to the General Assembly with recommendations.”

The committee’s report details the governor’s affair with his hairdresser in 2015, as he considered a run for public office. The report details several sexual encounters the woman had with Greitens in St. Louis, including at least two instances of physical violence against her. The committee also heard details about Greitens allegedly taking a photo of her while she was partially nude and blindfolded, which she said was used to keep her from revealing the affair.

Greitens criticized the report an hour before it was released, denying the violent allegations. He called the contents of the report “tabloid-trash gossip.”

Richardson pushed back against that description.

“[The committee] simply looked and heard the testimony, and made judgment thoughts about the credibility of the testimony,” Richardson said. “So I think to the extent that the report is characterized as something other than that, I completely disagree.”

House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Gail McCann Beatty (D-Kansas City) called on the governor to resign.

“What I saw today was somebody with zero integrity who basically lied to the people of Missouri,” Beatty said.

The committee will continue working until May 18. It would take three-fourths of both chambers of the General Assembly to call a special session.

An impeachment vote by the full Missouri House would be unprecedented. If passed, the Senate would select a panel of judges to hear the case for and against impeachment.

Richardson said waiting until after the regular session allows lawmakers to focus on legislation moving through the General Assembly.

“The power given to the Missouri General Assembly to take disciplinary action or to remove elected officials from office is one of the most serious and consequential powers the Constitution grants the Legislature,” Richardson said. “We will not take that responsibility lightly. We will not act rashly, but we will not shrink from it.”