Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 30 May 2018

Missouri governor resigns amid widening investigations

By DAVID A. LIEB vestigative committee had worthy of this treatment,”
Associated Press subpoenaed Greitens to he said. “I will let the fairness
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — testify next Monday. of this process be judged
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, Two people with close ties by history.”
a sometimes brash political to Republican officials in His departure will elevate
outsider whose unconven- Washington and Missouri fellow Republican Lt. Gov.
tional resume as a Rhodes told The Associated Press Mike Parson — a former
scholar and Navy SEAL of- there was no coordinated state lawmaker and sheriff
ficer made him a rising star effort to push Greitens out. — to the governor’s office.
in the Republican Party, The governor’s brashness Parson, who will serve the
resigned Tuesday amid a had alienated some GOP remainder of Greitens’
widening investigation that legislators even before his term through January 2020,
arose from an affair with his affair became public. Sen- pledged to carry out his
former hairdresser. ate Leadership Fund Presi- new duties “with honor and
The 44-year-old governor dent Steven Law said the integrity.” He said Greitens’
spent nearly six months resignation could help unify resignation “will allow our
fighting to stay in office af- Missouri Republicans and state to heal and move for-
ter the affair became pub- free up money. ward from what has been a
lic in January in a televi- In January, the woman’s difficult time.”The Greitens
sion news report that aired Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens reads from a prepared statement ex-husband released a administration was thrown
immediately following his as he announces his resignation during a news conference, secretly recorded conver- into chaos the night of Jan.
State of the State address. Tuesday, May 29, 2018, at the state Capitol, in Jefferson City, sation from 2015 in which 10, when a St. Louis TV sta-
The probes into his con- Mo. she described the affair, tion aired a report about
duct by prosecutors and Associated Press which happened shortly Greitens allegedly taking
lawmakers began with al- could jeopardize the GOP’s was elected governor. The after Greitens created an the compromising photo
legations stemming from chances of defeating in- charge was dismissed dur- exploratory committee to and threatening to black-
the affair and expanded cumbent Democrat Sen. ing jury selection, but a spe- run for office. The woman mail the woman if she ever
to include questions about Claire McCaskill in a race cial prosecutor from Kansas later told the House com- spoke of their encounter.
whether he violated cam- considered essential to the City is considering whether mittee that Greitens re- The governor admitted to
paign-finance laws. party’s hopes of keeping to refile charges and said strained, slapped, shoved having an affair but denied
Greitens said his resignation control of the Senate. Tuesday that her investiga- and threatened her during any criminal wrongdoing.
would take effect Friday. The local St. Louis pros- tion is ongoing. a series of sexual encoun- He said the criminal case
“This ordeal has been de- ecutor’s office said it had In April, the St. Louis pros- ters that at times left her was politically motivated
signed to cause an incred- reached a “fair and just res- ecutor, Kim Gardner, crying and afraid. and called Gardner, a
ible amount of strain on olution” on criminal charg- charged Greitens with an- Greitens said the allega- Democrat, a “reckless lib-
my family — millions of dol- es against Greitens now other felony, alleging that tions amounted to a “politi- eral prosecutor.”
lars of mounting legal bills, that he’s leaving office. But he improperly used the do- cal witch hunt” and vowed The House authorized the
endless personal attacks the prosecutor said details nor list for a charity that he to stay in office. But a re- legislative investigation a
designed to cause maxi- would not be made public had founded to raise mon- port from the House com- week after the indictment.
mum damage to family until Wednesday. ey for his 2016 campaign. mittee created a firestorm, Missouri Attorney General
and friends,” he said in a A St. Louis grand jury in- Then less than two weeks with both Republicans and Josh Hawley also launched
brief statement from his Jef- dicted Greitens on Feb. 22 ago, the Missouri Legis- Democrats calling for his an inquiry into a veterans’
ferson City office, his voice on one felony count of in- lature began meeting in resignation. charity Greitens founded.
breaking at times. vasion of privacy for alleg- special session to consid- Even while resigning, Gre- Federal law bars 501(c)(3)
Lawmakers pressuring Gre- edly taking and transmit- er whether to pursue im- itens remained defiant. charities such as The Mission
itens to step down included ting a photo of the woman peachment proceedings “I am not perfect. But I Continues from intervening
many Republicans, who without her consent at his to try to oust Greitens from have not broken any laws in political campaigns on
feared that his troubles home in 2015, before he office. A special House in- or committed any offense behalf of candidates.q