JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors agreed to drop one of two felony criminal cases against Missouri Gov Eric Greitens after the governor’s attorneys said he would resign if the allegations were dismissed, a spokeswoman for St. Louis’ top prosecutor said Wednesday.
A day after Greitens announced that he would step down, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said her office decided to dismiss a charge of computer data tampering following conversations with defense team for the governor, who was once a rising star in the Republican Party.
“I remain confident we have the evidence required to pursue charges against Mr. Greitens, but sometimes pursuing charges is not the right thing to do for our city or our state,” Gardner said.
A spokeswoman for Gardner’s office, Susan Ryan, said the defense approached prosecutors with an offer to resign if the case were dropped. Prosecutors agreed.
Defense attorney Jim Martin acknowledged reaching out to Gardner to resolve the issue but added, “I don’t think that’s exactly the full play.” He did not elaborate.
The charge, filed in April following an investigation by the Missouri attorney general’s office, accused Greitens of using a donor list from the veterans charity he founded, The Mission Continues, for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign.
Responding to Grietens’ past statements calling the prosecution “a witch hunt” that inflicted pain on his family, Gardener said the governor had brought the charges upon himself “by his actions, his statements, his decisions, his ambition and his pursuit for power.”
Many of Greitens’ former colleagues and friends “cooperated with our prosecution, not because they were threatened or harassed, but because it was the right thing to do,” she said.
Had the governor been convicted, she said, it was unlikely that he would be sentenced to prison, given the type of charge he faced and the fact that he would be a first-time offender.
The governor also was indicted on invasion-of-privacy charges in February in St. Louis for allegedly taking an unauthorized and compromising photo of a woman during an extramarital affair in 2015, before he was elected. The charge was dropped earlier this month, but a special prosecutor is considering whether to refile it.
The special prosecutor, Jean Peters Baker, said Tuesday that no deals have been made by her office with Greitens’ attorneys.
Martin said he expected the remaining charge to be resolved soon, but he offered no details.
“I think what folks need to know is it’s now time to leave the governor alone and let him and his family heal,” Martin said.
Greitens’ departure becomes official at 5 p.m. Friday — marking a stunning political defeat for the 44-year-old, self-made warrior-philosopher who had aspirations of someday becoming president.
For those fellow Republicans who had strenuously urged his resignation, Greitens’ exit provides the divided party a chance to reunify at the start of a summer campaign season that will include intense efforts to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.
The resignation also allows Greitens to avoid the distinction of becoming the first Missouri governor to be impeached. A House investigatory committee had subpoenaed Greitens to testify next Monday during a special monthlong session focused solely on his potential discipline.
Fellow Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Parson — a former state lawmaker and sheriff — is to serve the remainder of Greitens’ term, which runs until January 2021.
Greitens could face other investigations. The chairman of the House investigatory committee and an attorney representing the woman’s ex-husband both have said they have shared information with FBI agents looking into the governor.
A complaint also remains pending at the Missouri Ethics Commission alleging Greitens filed a false campaign report last year about the source of the charity donor list.
On May 17, Greitens suggested to a crowd of supporters gathered for an agricultural event that he wouldn’t give up.
“No matter what they throw at me, no matter how painful they try to make it, no matter how much suffering they want to put me and my family through and my team through … we are going to step forward day after day after day, and we are going to continue in our mission to fight for the people of Missouri,” Greitens said then.
On Tuesday, Greitens remained defiant even while resigning.
“I am not perfect. But I have not broken any laws or committed any offense worthy of this treatment,” he said. “I will let the fairness of this process be judged by history.”
Greitens is a married father of two young sons who traveled the world on humanitarian missions before joining the Navy. After being wounded in Iraq, he founded a veterans’ charity and became a best-selling author and motivational speaker.
He campaigned as a political outsider in 2016, winning an expensive Republican gubernatorial primary and then defeating Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster in the general election to give Missouri Republicans control of the governor’s mansion for the first time in eight years.
The Rhodes scholar with a doctoral degree in politics had a sometimes rocky relationship with the GOP-controlled Legislature, once comparing them to third-graders and frequently denouncing them as “career politicians.”
His support in the Capitol began to unravel after the night of Jan. 10, when a St. Louis TV station aired a report featuring an audio recording secretly made by a woman’s ex-husband. In that, the woman describes how Greitens allegedly bound her hands, blindfolded her and took a compromising photo while threatening that he would distribute it if she ever spoke of their encounter. Greitens denied threatening blackmail, but hasn’t directly answered questions about whether he took the photo.
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St. Louis’ top prosecutor is pushing back against Gov. Eric Greitens’ past statements that the charges she initially filed against him were part of a coordinated “witch hunt.”
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced Wednesday that she’s dropping the computer tampering charge against Greitens, who is resigning on Friday. A special prosecutor is weighing whether to refile another criminal charge against him.
Gardner says she made the agreement to dismiss the computer charge after conversations with Greitens’ attorneys. She says there was enough evidence to bring the charge but that if he were convicted, it’s unlikely Greitens would have served any jail time due to his status as a first-time offender.
As for Greitens allegations of a witch hunt, Gardner said she rejects his “shameful personal attacks” and “dangerous and false rhetoric about the criminal justice system and the rule of law.”
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11:05 a.m.
Missouri’s top legislative leaders are meeting with Lt. Gov. Mike Parson to plan the transition in power when Gov. Eric Greitens resigns.
Parson met Wednesday with House Speaker Todd Richardson, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard and Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe.
The lawmakers said they have invited Parson to deliver a speech to a joint session of the Legislature in the coming weeks.
Greitens announced Tuesday that he was resigning Friday instead of continuing to fight a criminal charge and potential impeachment proceedings over alleged sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations.
Among those meeting Wednesday with Parson was Sarah Steelman, Greitens’ administration commissioner. Parson also was receiving enhanced security that is supplied to incoming governors.
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10:40 a.m.
The prosecutor’s office in St. Louis will drop a felony charge of computer data tampering against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, now that the Republican governor has announced his resignation.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner announced the decision Wednesday, a day after Greitens’ surprise announcement that he would step down effective Friday afternoon.
The charge, filed in April following an investigation by the Missouri attorney general’s office, accused Greitens of using a donor list from the veterans charity he founded, The Mission Continues, for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign.
Greitens also was indicted on felony invasion of privacy in February in St. Louis, stemming from an extramarital affair in 2015. The case was dismissed earlier this month and a special prosecutor in Jackson County is still considering whether to refile the charge.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on allegations against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (all times local):
7p.m.
The special prosecutor considering whether to refile an invasion of privacy charge against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens says the investigation continues, even though the governor is resigning.
The Republican governor announced Tuesday that he will step down on Friday. A short time later, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said in a statement that her office had reached “fair and just resolution” on criminal charges against Greitens.
Gardner said only that more details would be released Wednesday.
A felony indictment in February accused Greitens of taking an unauthorized and compromising photo of a St. Louis woman during an extramarital affair in 2015
The charge was dropped earlier this month, but Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker was appointed special prosecutor to consider whether to refile it.
Baker says in a statement that the investigation is ongoing and will continue “until our work on the case is completed.” She says no deals have been made by her office with Greitens’ attorneys.
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6:05 p.m.
A national Republican operative says the resignation of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens could help Republicans unify before an important U.S. Senate race
Greitens announced his resignation Tuesday while facing a criminal charge and a legislative investigation that could have led to impeachment.
Some Republicans were worried that Greitens’ issues could cause problems for GOP Senate candidate and state Attorney General Josh Hawley in his challenge of Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.
But two people with close ties to Republican officials in Washington and Missouri told The Associated Press there was no coordinated effort to push Greitens out.
Senate Leadership Fund President Steven Law says Greitens resignation could help unify Missouri Republicans.
It also could free up money. Some donors had been approached recently to contribute to Greitens’ legal defense fund.
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