Lawmakers pursue probe despite dismissal
Legislative inquiry into allegations against governor proceeds
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens may have gained an argument against impeachment when a St. Louis prosecutor dropped a criminal charge against him, but the governor’s “great victory” seems to have done little to slow legislative momentum for an effort to try to remove him from office.
A day after the charge was dismissed, a House investigatory committee signaled that it’s pushing forward with its own expanded investigation into allegations that extend beyond Greitens’ acknowledged extramarital affair to his means of raising money for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign.
Republican legislative leaders affirmed that a monthlong special session focused solely on allegations against Greitens will convene Friday as scheduled. Attorneys for the governor’s office are bracing for an impeachment defense, pre-emptively suggesting that lawmakers treat their hearings like a trial that allows them to call and question witnesses.
Greitens, 44, was charged with felony invasion of privacy for allegedly taking and transmitting a photo of an at least partially nude woman without her permission in March 2015, before he was elected governor.
Greitens hasn’t directly answered questions about whether he took the photo.