The Missouri General Assembly has obtained enough support from lawmakers to call for a special session to determine if Gov. Eric Greitens should be impeached, due to multiple allegations of misconduct.
The Missouri House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight has been conducting a investigation into accusations against Greitens for several months.
A total of 138 House members and 29 senators signed a petition, and lawmakers will be called into a special session on May 18 to look at the findings from the committee, “including, but not limited to disciplinary actions against Gov. Eric R. Greitens.”
Among the allegations he faces, Greitens has been accused of blackmailing a woman with whom he had an extramarital affair. The committee submitted a report last month detailing that some of their sexual encounters were not consensual and that he hit her several times.
Greitens has admitted to the affair, but denies participating in any blackmail schemes.
Additionally, Greitens has been accused by his former campaign manager of knowingly deceiving the state ethics commission on how he obtained a veterans charity’s donor list. The campaign manager also claims he was tricked into taking the blame for the move.
“Today’s actions ensure there will be a conclusion to this process,” House Speaker Todd Richardson, a Republican, said Thursday.
“This path is not the one I would have chosen for Missourians or for my colleagues. I’ve hoped from the beginning of this process that the committee would find no wrongdoing. … Unfortunately, this is where the facts led,” he added. “We will not avoid doing what is right, just because it’s hard.”
House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty echoed similar sentiments and said the committee must complete its investigation.
“This is a necessary step,” she said. “We have to make sure we do this right, and the best way to do that is to give the committee time to complete the investigation, and if they see fit, to file articles of impeachment.”
Should Greitens be impeached, Lt. Gov. Mike Parson would become governor and fulfill the remainder of Greitens’ term until the beginning of 2021.
Greitens, a former Navy SEAL who previously had been a Democrat, was elected governor as a Republican in 2016.
