House committee releases final Greitens report

An “overwhelming majority” of the records a special House committee received to investigate former governor Eric Greitens will remain closed, since the committee didn’t use them in its findings.

The Special Investigative Committee on Oversight released its final report Monday, ending its work. The committee stopped holding meetings after Greitens resigned on June 1, since it lacked authority to keep working.

The 10-person committee looked into allegations lobbed against Greitens of sexual blackmail and campaign finance violations. Prosecutors in St. Louis pursued criminal charges against Greitens on both fronts, but dropped the campaign finance case in exchange for Greitens’ resignation in June. A special prosecutor declined to press charges related to an extramarital affair due to the statute of limitations and the available evidence.

Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, wrote that much of the records the committee took were not relevant to its work. Barnes said the resolution creating the committee, as well as the Missouri Constitution and state and federal law allowed him to keep those records closed, but did not specify which provisions of those applied.

The final report comes with a letter Barnes sent to several attorneys involved in House investigation, including those for Greitens and several witnesses involved in both cases. Barnes told the attorneys he planned on releasing records to multiple people after getting open records requests about the committee’s work. Barnes said his office would redact sensitive information.

While Barnes’ letter does not reference it, records regarding “legislative proceedings,” such as emails, became open records on Dec. 6, after voters approved Amendment 1 the month prior.

At least two of those notified – the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office and Catherine Hanaway, the attorney for Greitens’ gubernatorial campaign and its workers – wrote back to oppose the release. Both offices said they provided information after assurances from the committee that it would remain confidential.

CAO assistant Rachel Smith wrote on Dec. 13 that state open records law exempts police work done in cases that ends without a prosecution. Smith also said that the committee’s attorney, Edward “Chip” Robertson, told them the documents were “solely” for the committee’s use.

Hanaway said in a Dec. 17 letter that they, too, were assured that documents they provided were “subject to the express agreement that they would remain confidential.” Hanaway acknowledged that the opening of legislative proceedings in Amendment 1 was a “novel question,” but claimed that it does not apply retroactively.