Scandal-tainted governor quits, signs slew of bills
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Just hours before he left office Friday, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens signed scores of new laws, including a measure that makes it a crime to try to threaten a person using a private sexual image — the same allegation that led to his downfall.
In the flurry of last-minute activity, the governor approved 77 new laws, granted several pardons and commutations and won at least a temporary reprieve in a court battle over campaign records. He posted a long Facebook message touting his accomplishments — without any mention of why he was quitting — and quietly left Capitol about an hour before his 5 p.m. resignation took effect.
Shortly later, Lt. Gov. Mike Parson was been sworn in as Missouri’s new governor.
The “revenge porn” law creates a felony that will apply to cases when someone threatens the nonconsensual dissemination of a private sexual image by coercing another person to refrain from an action.
The governor has been accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015 and warning her he would distribute it if she ever spoke of their encounter. He has acknowledged having the affair but denied criminal wrongdoing and refused to directly answer questions about whether he took the photo.
Greitens’ resignation is part of a deal with a St. Louis prosecutor to drop a felony charge alleging misuse of a charity donor list to raise money for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign. His voluntary departure also avoids the potentially dubious distinction of becoming the first Missouri governor to be impeached by the House.
His successor, Parson, said he wants to assure people “that everything’s fine and government is going to go forward.”
His job now, he told St. Louis radio station KMOX, is to “work hard and make sure I’m prepared and do the best I can to make this transfer of power as smooth as possible.”