Eric Greitens agreed Missouri prosecutors had enough evidence to build a case, settlement says
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Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has resigned amid criminal and legislative investigations stemming from an extramarital affair and campaign finance questions. (May 29)
AP
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Lawyers for former Missouri governor Eric Greitens agreed on his behalf that prosecutors in St. Louis had “sufficient evidence” for their felony computer tampering case against him as part of a settlement agreement.Â
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office on Wednesday heeded Attorney General Josh Hawley’s advice and released an unredacted copy of the settlement Greitens signed as part of his resignation.Â
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office had withheld the settlement agreement in the face of several Sunshine Law requests but released a copy of the agreement Wednesday night. Hawley’s office had determined the agreement “constitutes an open record” under the Sunshine law.
Greitens had been accused of overseeing the taking of donor data from a charity he helped launch in order to raise money for his campaign. The dismissal of the charge hinged on the Republican politician leaving the governor’s office.
Two parts of the agreement had previously been redacted.
One of them states: “Counsel for defendant, on behalf of defendant, stipulate that the State has sufficient evidence to constitute a submissible case” in the computer tampering prosecution.
The other previously redacted section said that Greitens’ agreement that prosecutors had enough evidence “shall be sealed and shall not be made public by any party unless (Greitens) commits a new offense or engages in public comment contrary to the stipulation.”
Gardner’s office also provided a letter dated Tuesday she wrote to Ed Dowd, the attorney leading Greitens’ criminal defense.Â
“Your client blatantly violated a material obligation in that agreement,” Gardner wrote, “with a public statement he made in conjunction with his resignation from the office of Governor of the State of Missouri when he said: ‘… I have not broken any laws or committed any offense worthy of this treatment.'”
“Given your client’s blatant and material violation of the agreement, this office is no longer under any obligation under that agreement to maintain confidentiality of any provision of that agreement that your client previously sought,” she continued.Â
Greitens, who described efforts to investigate him as a “political witch hunt,” made that statement on May 29. The agreement is dated May 30.Â
A spokeswoman for Gardner, Susan Ryan, acknowledged that Greitens made the speech before the agreement.Â
“But we had agreement by the defense prior to the signing of the agreement,” Ryan said in a text message, “through conversation and negotiation.”
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A St. Louis prosecutor is dismissing a computer tampering charge against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who is resigning. (May 30)
AP
Ryan added that the agreement was reached before Greitens’ speech.
Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican from Bolivar, took over after Greitens resigned last Friday and has been transitioning into his new role. Parson had been serving as lieutenant governor and was a state lawmaker before that.Â
Greitens had been dogged by personal scandal and legal drama.
His campaign and a pro-Greitens nonprofit face subpoenas in connection with a legislative investigation. An order to force Greitens’ legal counsel and aides to produce documents was temporarily halted due to his sudden exit.Â
Simultaneously, private attorneys from the St. Louis area have been battling in court to obtain records of Greitens’ use of Confide, an app that automatically deletes text messages.
About 20 people in the governor’s office including Greitens used the app, and the private attorneys have raised concerns about transparency and the Sunshine Law.
Greitens admitted Jan. 10 that he cheated on his wife with a woman but denied blackmailing the woman with a partially nude photograph. He was indicted Feb. 22 by a St. Louis grand jury on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge and scheduled to be tried by a jury starting May 14. The charge was later dropped.
Before he resigned, state lawmakers had convened in a special session to hear evidence about Greitens in a process that could have led to his impeachment.Â
More: Timeline: Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ path to resignation
More: ‘I didn’t want this,’ woman in Gov. Eric Greitens affair says in new TV interview
More: Why Gov. Eric Greitens’ resignation should make us worry about dark money
More: Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens offered to resign in exchange for dropping criminal charge
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