Ex-husband’s attorney deposition ends, pretrial preps made in Greitens case

Attorneys for Albert Watkins, the man representing the ex-husband of Gov. Eric Greitens’ mistress, declined to comment on their client’s two-day deposition on Tuesday afternoon. Watkins, though, did have something to say.

“It’s time for all of us in this fair land to learn how to do a proper pull-up,” Watkins said. “There’s more importance to that than perhaps any of us ever knew.”

Watkins referred to the piece of exercise equipment and workout Greitens allegedly used as pretense for a 2015 sexual encounter with his hairdresser. The woman would later claim Greitens tied her to the bar and blindfolded her while she was half-naked, then took a photo of her without her consent. The photo is the center of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s felony charge of invasion of privacy.

Watkins’ deposition revolved around the $100,000 his firm received shortly after the woman’s ex-husband spoke to the media about the affair in January. Watkins said he was unsure of who the source of the money was, but that Missouri Times publisher Scott Faughn delivered $50,000 of it. A person he believed to be a courier delivered the other half, and Watkins deposited both amounts to deal with the Greitens case.

Chuck Hatfield, attorney for Watkins, declined to comment on Tuesday’s deposition.

Greitens’ attorney Ed Dowd did not comment on what was said during the deposition. He said he would begin filing pretrial motions, which were due Tuesday.

While the payments don’t affect what did or did not happen in Greitens’ basement in March 2015, Judge Rex Burlison said they may reveal what motives the ex-husband had in revealing the affair. The ex-husband and Watkins have both said they spoke to the media about the affair after one reporter called his child about the story.

Arguments over the pretrial motions, such as what evidence may be excluded from trial, will take place Monday at 11 a.m. in Burlison’s courtroom. A second deposition is scheduled for the mistress on Thursday, as part of the sanctions for the circuit attorney’s failures in handing over evidence in the case.

Defense attorneys are still seeking to keep the mistress and a friend she confided in regarding the incident from testifying at trial. Both spoke to prosecutor’s private investigator William Don Tisaby, who the defense team said lied about evidence he gathered in those interviews.