KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight released its report Wednesday on allegations against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.
Click here to read the full report
The committee was formed after Greitens was indicted on a felony invasion of privacy charge.
Court documents allege Greitens took a nude photograph of a woman he was having an affair with in 2015 and then transmitted the photo so it could be seen on a computer.
In a news conference Wednesday after the release of the report, Missouri Speaker of the House Todd Richardson told reporters that the committee investigating Greitens plans to expand its mission and make a recommendation on whether the house should pursue impeachment.
The report details testimony the woman at the heart of the invasion of privacy charge provided to the committee.
In the testimony, the woman told the committee she and Greitens first met in 2013 at her hair salon, but it wasn’t until March 2015 where the relationship turned romantic.
The woman, who said she had “somewhat of a crush” on Greitens, said that on a March 7, 2015, appointment, Greitens moved his hand up her leg and “all the way up to her crotch.” The woman told the committee she did not give her consent.
Nearly two weeks later on March 21, a Saturday, the woman went to Greitens’s home at 7 a.m.
“It was like he was on a mission, sort of, like this kind of high energy – it was kind of high energy,” the woman told the committee. “And he said, ‘Will you let me take you through an exercise – like, through a workout? I just have this idea. It’s going to make you feel so good.’”
The woman said that she hoped to learn more about his feelings toward her.
Greitens then allegedly had the woman change into a man’s T-shirt and men’s pajama pants and told her that he would show her how to do a proper pull-up.
The woman told the committee that she figured it was going to be a “sexy workout.”
Upon entering the basement, the woman testified that Greitens taped her hands to pull-up rings with “this gauzed tape stuff” and then put a blindfold on her.
After an exchange, the woman said Greitens tore her shirt apart, exposing her, and then pulled down her pants, both without her consent.
At that point, the woman told investigators, “Then I hear him kind of, like, step back – take a step back and I hear – I can hear like a, like a cell phone – like a picture, and I can see a flash through the blindfold.”
The report includes a reference to a filing made by Greitens’s defense attorneys on April 9, 2018, pointing out in testimony that she had never seen the governor with the phone.
When asked by an assistant circuit attorney during the April testimony, the woman provided the following account:
“I haven’t talked about it because I don’t know if it’s because I’m remembering it through a dream or I – I’m not sure, but yes, I feel like I saw it after that happened, but I haven’t spoken about it because of that.”
In returning to the committee’s interview with the woman, the report said the woman said Greitens then threatened her:
“You’re not going to mention my name. Don’t even mention my name to anybody at all, because if you do, I’m going to take these pictures, and I’m going to put them everywhere I can. They are going to be everywhere, and then everyone will know what a little w**** you are.”
The woman said she then told Greitens she wanted to be untied and he helped her remove the tape. She eventually left his home and returned to work. She did have to return later because she forgot her keys.
She claims she confronted Greitens about the photo and he claimed he felt bad about taking it so he deleted it but the woman said she didn’t believe him.
The woman then describes several other encounters with Greitens over the next few months, including two where he slapped her.
In one incident in June 2015, the woman said Greitens struck her in the face after she admitted to sleeping with her husband. She said it didn’t feel like he was trying to intentionally hurt her but that he was trying to “claim” her.
She also describes another incident where she agreed to meet Greitens in a parking lot to talk. She claims Greitens had informed her that someone emailed his wife about their affair. He then allegedly created a story to explain her presence in his neighborhood during their encounters. At this point, she said she told Greitens she didn’t want to see him again.
She said Greitens did later return to her workplace in October 2015 and assured her that his wife “doesn’t think anything.” The woman said she emailed Greitens that night and said “Please think of everyone involved and just leave me alone. Don’t come in at all.” She said she never saw him again after that.
The report states that Greitens declined to testify but said through counsel that he would be willing to testify at the conclusion of the criminal trial. He also declined to provide documents or anything else the committee requested.
Ahead of the report's release, Greitens said in a statement to the media he expects it "will include lies and falsehoods."
He echoed that in another statement after the report's release and denied any allegations of violence:
This was an entirely consensual relationship, and any allegation of violence or sexual assault is false. This was a months-long consenting relationship between two adults.
The accusations published in the House Committee's report will be directly contradicted by the facts that emerge in court. In just 33 days, a court of law and a jury of my peers will let every person in Missouri know the truth and prove my innocence.
This was an unfortunate process, in which good people, including some on the committee, were left to try and do the right thing and sort through lies and falsehoods without access to the full facts. In the court of law, everyone will have the facts, and these allegations will be proven false.
On Tuesday, a judge issued a gag order on all involved in the Greitens case.
EXTENDED COVERAGE
Greitens indicted on invasion of privacy charge
Prosecutors don’t have photo at heart of Greitens case
Greitens’ attorney: No change of venue request
Greitens’ attorneys: No evidence photo was transmitted
Judge refuses to change trial date for Greiteins
Missouri Gov. Greitens’s lawyers want House report delayed
Court filing says woman in Greitens affair unsure of memory
Attorney for woman in Greitens case fires back, says Greitens’ attorneys are on the attack
Report from special House committee investigating Greitens to be released Wednesday
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