Greitens’ invasion-of-privacy trial to center on accuser’s testimony

The indictment of Gov. Eric Greitens on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge in February triggered an investigation by a Missouri House committee and calls for Greitens’ resignation or impeachment. He also faces a second felony charge of computer tampering for allegedly taking without permission a donor list from a charity he founded.

The outcome of the trial, if favorable to Greitens, could mute some of those calls, and carry consequences for prosecutors and investigators.

Opening statements are expected by midweek, once a jury is picked from a pool of 160 St. Louisans.

Greitens, 44, has admitted the affair but denied blackmailing the woman. Greitens has dismissed the committee report as “lies” and “tabloid trash.”

Lawyers on both sides have been forbidden from making public statements about the case.

The woman told the House committee that Greitens threatened to release the picture if she revealed their affair and later told her he had deleted the photo.

The woman told the House committee that she thought she and Greitens were going to work out in his Central West End basement. Greitens gave her clothes to wear, she said, and then taped her hands to pull up rings, blindfolded her and spit water into her mouth in an attempt to kiss her. He touched and kissed her body without her consent, she told the committee, and then ripped open her shirt and pulled down her pants before taking the picture.