Missouri’s Republican-held House and Senate called a special session to consider impeaching embattled GOP Gov. Eric Greitens.
The decision comes amid mounting pressure on the governor to resign over criminal charges that he tied up and photographed an undressed woman with whom he was having an affair, without having obtained her consent. He has also been charged with felony computer tampering over his use of a charity donor list during his 2016 campaign. His trial begins in St. Louis on May 14.
“The process has monumental consequences, and the gravity of what we are commencing is not taken lightly,” said Senate Leader Ron Richard, a Joplin Republican. “I believe we should give the House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight more time so they can continue their investigation and make sure they have all the facts.”
The decision by the state legislature to hold a special session comes a day after a House special committee released a report alleging the governor lied in campaign filings and violated campaign finance laws when he used a charity’s donor list to raise money for his campaign. The charity, called the Mission Continues, was founded by Greitens to help veterans acclimate to civilian life. Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, was deployed overseas four times in the mid-2000s.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.[1]
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