Missouri governor to be investigated by a special committee

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) will be investigated by a special committee in the state over a scandal that could lead to impeachment proceedings, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Saturday.

Todd Richardson, the Republican Speaker of the state House, has reviewed which legislators in the chamber will be named for the committee, which is set to examine felony charges against the state executive.

Greitens was indicted Thursday on a felony invasion of privacy charge stemming from his alleged threats to a St. Louis hairdresser of releasing compromising photos of her if she made their affair public. 

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The governor has maintained that he committed no crime, and referred to the 2015 affair in a Thursday statement as “a personal mistake” that he made before being elected to office in 2016. 

The committee will now investigate the charges, and could decide as soon as Monday whether to begin impeachment proceedings in the full state House, according to the Post-Dispatch.

If a majority in the House favors impeachment, the state Senate would then take up proceedings with a panel of seven judges, of which five would need to concur on his guilt to remove him from office. 

Greitens has called the circuit attorney on the case a “reckless liberal prosecutor” and has said he will try to resolve the issue in court. The governor’s attorney has indicated he will cooperate with the special committee. 

“We welcome reviewing this issue with the independent, bipartisan committee of the Missouri House of Representatives,” Greitens’s attorney, Edward Dowd, said, according to the Post-Dispatch. “We will work with the committee. We will be deposing witnesses and will be happy to share information with you with the court’s permission.”