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Lawmakers react to Greitens’ affair, blackmail allegations as investigation is launched

Published January 11, 2018 9:25 PM

Lawmakers across the state are reacting to Governor Eric Greitens’ extramarital affair and the blackmail allegations brought against him.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced Thursday that her office will be investigating the allegations.

“The serious allegations against Missouri Governor Eric Greitens are very troubling. After further investigation, I have decided to launch a formal investigation into the alleged actions of Governor Greitens. It is essential for residents of the City of St. Louis and our state to have confidence in their leaders. They must know that the Office of the Circuit Attorney will hold public officials accountable in the same manner as any other resident of our city. Both parties and the people of St. Louis deserve a thorough investigation of these allegations.

“If anyone has any information related to this matter, I encourage them to contact my office immediately,” the statement concluded.

The investigation comes after a report from KMOV in which Greitens’ admitted to having an extramarital affair “a few years ago.” The report also alleged that Greitens’ tried to blackmail the woman he was involved with in order for her to keep quiet about the sexual encounter.

Greitens’ attorney James F. Bennett has denied any allegations of blackmail. He released the following statement to ABC 17 News Wednesday night:

“The governor has now seen the TV report that ran tonight. The station declined to provide the tape or transcript in advance of running their story, which contained multiple false allegations. The claim that this nearly three-year old story has generated or should generate law enforcement interest is completely false. There was no blackmail and that claim is false. This personal matter has been addressed by the Governor and Mrs. Greitens privately years ago when it happened. The outrageous claims of improper conduct regarding these almost three-year-ago events are false.”

Meanwhile, lawmakers across the state are reacting to the allegations. Some are calling for the governor’s resignation.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/Kip_Kendrick/status/951557885691129856″,”author_name”:”Kip Kendrick”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/Kip_Kendrick”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;If the alleged predatory behavior of Gov. Greitens is true, it’s absolutely unacceptable. That behavior does not reflect the moral character we expect in a Missouri governor. Politicians cannot preach moral high roads while failing to hold themselves to the same standards.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Kip Kendrick (@Kip_Kendrick) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/Kip_Kendrick/status/951557885691129856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;January 11, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/calebrowden/status/951527082869379072″,”author_name”:”Caleb Rowden”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/calebrowden”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;My statement re: the recent allegations against Governor Eric Greitens. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/MOLeg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#MOLeg&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/PJYuSHjBn7″&#gt;pic.twitter.com/PJYuSHjBn7&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Caleb Rowden (@calebrowden) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/calebrowden/status/951527082869379072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;January 11, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/Martha4MO/status/951551789928800261″,”author_name”:”Martha Stevens”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/Martha4MO”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;The allegations coming out against the governor are serious & very disturbing. If they are true then he must immediately resign. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/MoLeg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#MoLeg&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Martha Stevens (@Martha4MO) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/Martha4MO/status/951551789928800261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;January 11, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/SenatorNasheed/status/951319136369508352″,”author_name”:”Jamilah Nasheed”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/SenatorNasheed”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;WE MUST END THE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION. I’m calling on Governor Greitens to resign immediately and give Missouri the opportunity to restore some dignity to the governor’s office.&#lt;/p&#gt;– Jamilah Nasheed (@SenatorNasheed) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/SenatorNasheed/status/951319136369508352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;January 11, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/ellington_b/status/951514649819627520″,”author_name”:”Brandon Ellington”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/ellington_b”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”und” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/bellington?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#bellington&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/wethepeople?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#wethepeople&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/moleg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#moleg&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/whatzreal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#whatzreal&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/realtalk?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#realtalk&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/7nhtyHAGeE”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/7nhtyHAGeE&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Brandon Ellington (@ellington_b) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/ellington_b/status/951514649819627520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;January 11, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/SaraForMissouri/status/951643872953806849″,”author_name”:”Sara Walsh”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/SaraForMissouri”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;My statement re: the recent allegations against Governor Eric Greitens. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/MOLeg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#MOLeg&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/0R0lvoRLhz”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/0R0lvoRLhz&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;— Sara Walsh (@SaraForMissouri) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/SaraForMissouri/status/951643872953806849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;January 12, 2018&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft also released the following statement: “I am deeply concerned by these complex allegations, which must be taken seriously. I will continue to pray for the Greitens family and ask the people of Missouri to join me in doing the same.”

Senator Doug Libla (R) – District 25 said he has asked the Attorney General’s office to investigate the allegations. Missouri AGO spokeswoman Loree Ann Paradise said jurisdiction rests with the prosecuting attorney where the alleged misconduct occurred.

“Under Missouri law, jurisdiction over alleged criminal conduct of this nature rests with the Prosecuting Attorney in the place where the conduct occurred. If the Prosecuting Attorney has a legal conflict or lacks the resources to pursue an investigation, he or she may seek assistance from the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and the Attorney General’s Office.”

The allegations against Greitens came as the governor delivered his State of the State address. Since news broke, little attention has been paid to the governor’s remarks in his speech.

“It’s just something we have to deal with,” Libla said with a sign in response. “And that’s the purpose of my contacting the Attorney General’s office on this. And my purpose of contacting the Attorney General is the blackmail part.”

Libla also said the state “is going to move forward.”

“I feel comfortable with that,” he said. “This is a great state and our people are resilient, but again, we just need to follow the evidence. There have been too many times in our past history, even in the state of Missouri, where we jump to conclusions on whether or not someone is guilty of something or not.”

In an email to ABC 17 News, Greitens’ press secretary Parker Biden said the governor is “in Jeff City working. I will let you know of any upcoming open press events.”

Below is the full list of statements that Greitens’ attorney, Jim Bennett, sent to ABC 17:

Full Set of All Statements Joint Statement from Eric and Sheena Greitens

“A few years ago, before Eric was elected Governor, there was a time when he was unfaithful in our marriage. This was a deeply personal mistake. Eric took responsibility, and we dealt with this together honestly and privately. While we never would have wished for this pain in our marriage, or the pain that this has caused others, with God’s mercy Sheena has forgiven and we have emerged stronger. We understand that there will be some people who cannot forgive – but for those who can find it in your heart, Eric asks for your forgiveness, and we are grateful for your love, your compassion, and your prayers.”

Additional Statement from Sheena Greitens

“We have a loving marriage and an awesome family; anything beyond that is between us and God. I want the media and those who wish to peddle gossip to stay away from me and my children.”

Statement from Eric Greitens Attorney, James F. Bennett

Statement Regarding Investigation, attributable to Eric Greitens Attorney, James F. Bennett

“The Governor is very confident he will be cleared in any investigation. This is a three-year-old personal matter that presents no matters of public or legal interest. The facts will prove that fully. As we learned today, these false allegations are being advanced by political adversaries.”

Statements on Specific Issues, attributable to Eric Greitens Attorney, James F. Bennett

“The Governor denies that the picture was taken and denies stating the words attributed to him by her on the recording.”

“Any allegation of violence is completely false. It never happened. There was never any violence. Anything reported otherwise is untrue and we will explore pursuing all legal action. This was a consensual relationship that lasted multiple months and was years ago, before Eric was elected Governor.”

“We have not been provided the tape or the transcript and know nothing about the circumstances of how or why it was made and so are not commenting on any motives of any person who is claimed to have been recorded.”

“There is no agreement, written or otherwise, related to these matters and no effort to enter any kind of non-disclosure agreement. There was no payment of any money.”

Statement Regarding Most Recent Reporting, attributable to Eric Greitens Attorney, James F. Bennett

“We have been asked repeatedly by reputable news outlets why we believe this nearly three-year-old news story is coming out now. The latest reporting has finally disclosed that the reporting was being driven by a “source” who is the former Democrat state party chairman and who apparently has not spoken to the person in question. This goes a long way to explaining what is going on. It’s become clear this is a political hit piece. This is and remains an almost three-year-old private matter with no matter of public interest at stake. Eric and Sheena have worked through those issues long ago and Sheena put it best: ‘We have a loving marriage and an awesome family; anything beyond that is between us and God. I want the media and those who wish to peddle gossip to stay away from me and my children.’ Now we know who has been peddling that gossip.”

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