Woman testifies Missouri governor groped and hit her
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — During several sexual encounters with his hair stylist the year before he was elected Missouri’s governor, Eric Greitens struck her in the face, touched her crotch without her consent and called her a “whore,” the woman told a Missouri House committee, according to newly released documents.
The claims add disturbing new layers to the single criminal allegation Greitens faces — a felony invasion-of-privacy charge, for allegedly taking and transmitting a semi-nude photo of her without her consent.
In sworn testimony made March 7, the woman stood by that allegation as presented in the House report released Wednesday afternoon. She also painted a broader picture of Greitens as a controlling, jealous lover for whom violence or the threat of it was an integral part of the affair.
Minutes before the report was issued, Greitens referred to a “political witch hunt” five times in about eight minutes. He referred to “lies and falsehoods,” though he didn’t specify which parts of the report he claims are false.
In a statement issued later Wednesday by the lobbying firm Greitens has hired to assist his defense, he again said the relationship was consensual.
“The accusations published in the House Committee’s report will be directly contradicted by the facts that emerge in court. In just 33 days, a court of law and a jury of my peers will let every person in Missouri know the truth and prove my innocence,” his statement said.
House Speaker Todd Richardson, a Republican like Greitens, said he would seek a special session of the Legislature to consider action against the governor — action that may include impeachment.
“The testimony outlined in the report is beyond disturbing,” Richardson said. “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.”
He said the committee would not seek to start impeachment proceedings during the current legislative session, which ends May 18.
Attorney General Josh Hawley, another Republican who is conducting a separate investigation of the veterans’ charity Greitens founded, called on the governor to resign.
“The House Investigative Committee’s Report contains shocking, substantial, and corroborated evidence of wrongdoing by Governor Greitens,” Hawley said in a statement. “The conduct the Report details is certainly impeachable, in my judgment, and the House is well within its rights to proceed on that front. But the people of Missouri should not be put through that ordeal. Governor Greitens should resign immediately.”