Missouri governor could face charge for charity donor list

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, already facing a felony charge related to an extramarital affair, could soon face another felony count after the state’s attorney general cited evidence Tuesday suggesting that Greitens’ use of a charity donor list for political purposes may have broken state law.

Attorney General Josh Hawley said an investigation by his office shows that Greitens took data listing the top donors to The Mission Continues without the consent of the St. Louisbased veterans’ charity he had founded and used it to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign.

Hawley said he referred the matter to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who has jurisdiction to decide whether to charge Greitens with a crime. He also referred his findings to a special House investigatory committee that is considering whether to recommend impeachment proceedings to try to remove Greitens from office.

The Republican governor issued a rebuttal statement questioning the legal skills of the Republican attorney general and lambasting him for working with Gardner, a Democrat. Hawley is challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and has faced an onslaught of Democratic ads trying to link him to Greitens.

“Anyone who has set foot in a Missouri courtroom knows these allegations are ridiculous,” Greitens said.

Greitens is to go to trial May 14 on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge in St. Louis for allegedly taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015.