I have been disappointed so far with the national coverage of Gov. Eric Greitens’s resignation. The television nightly news and most other outlets have focused on the sexual misconduct allegations against him, which in fact are the least of his problems. Those charges had been withdrawn, and few people in the state think they will ever be prosecuted, mostly because the evidence is hinky and the woman doesn’t want to pursue the case.
Why Greitens resigned today: The Missouri House has been investigating Greitens as it moved toward possible impeachment. Today a court ordered that Greitens had to turn over documents from his dark money political group to the House committee doing the investigation. It took him an entire hour after that to announce his resignation. One suspects that court order had more to do with the resignation than the affair, which we found out about several weeks ago.
The dark money group, A New Missouri, was formed right after Greitens was elected to support his agenda. It’s called “dark money” because it is set up so that the names of donors don’t have to be disclosed. The problem is that there is no apparent firewall between the governor’s office and this dark money group. That means there could be massive conflicts of interest, with people giving money to the group in order to get state contracts or get laws passed that favor their business.
In possibly related charges, the Governor and his staff were caught erasing emails and using a phone app that destroys emails, in violation of state “sunshine” laws.
It is unlikely the Republican House will pursue further investigation of Greitens now that he’s resigned, but he could still face criminal charges. He’s still under indictment for finance violations. There is a lot of speculation on local news that his resignation was part of a plea deal with the prosecutor. We may learn more tomorrow.
Here’s some basic background into his other problem:
Lawmakers from both parties immediately began questioning whether Greitens could continue to lead the state. The House authorized the legislative investigation a week after the indictment.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley also launched an inquiry into a veterans’ charity Greitens founded. Federal law bars 501(c)(3) charities such as The Mission Continues from intervening in political campaigns on behalf of candidates.
The Associated Press first reported in October 2016 that Greitens’ campaign had obtained a list of individuals, corporations and other nonprofits that had given at least $1,000 to The Mission Continues. The AP reported that Greitens raised about $2 million from those who had previously given significant amounts to the charity.
Hawley, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, turned evidence over to Gardner, saying April 17 that he believed Greitens had broken the law. Her office charged him with tampering with computer data for allegedly disclosing the donor list without the charity’s permission.
A May 2 report from a special House investigatory committee indicated that Greitens himself received the donor list and later directed aides to work off it to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign. A former campaign aide testified that he was duped into taking the fall when the campaign tried to explain how it had gotten the list.
I don’t think the alleged affair with the hairdresser really has much to do with his resignation today.
These colors never <strike>run</strike> resign.
For me it doesn't matter what forced him to resign. Just to see the big bad ass, gun toting, woman beating repuglican warrior run out of office is a joy unto itself. It's a defeat for that insidious spirit that is corroding America. And for that fact we should rejoice. Another bag of shit bites the dust!
Bye bye, warrior Greitens
Hey Swami: I have no skin in the game on this one, but he "allegedly" tied a woman up. He had consensual sex with this woman, and she continued the affair after the "alleged" photo incident. The case was dismissed. Do you by chance read that? He is a gun owner, and by our 2nd Amendment rights, he is allowed to do this. Is that the "insidious spirit" you so grossly hate? Belief and support of our US Constitution? By "insidious spirit" I am sure that you mean the women on "The View" and the hatefulness and insidious behavior of the left-wing Communist media, right? I am sure that's what you are alluding to. I can't wait for the Office of the Inspector General Report. Going to be a field day on the corrupt FBI and DOJ under the Obama administration. We can address "insidious spirit" and behavior again in a few weeks.
“The case was dismissed.” THAT case was only dismissed because the prosecutors decided to withdraw the case before jury selection was done so that double jeopardy would not attach. That means prosecutors could re-file the charges and go to another trial, although I doubt they will. As I believe I said in the article that I bet you didn’t read, “the evidence is hinky and the woman doesn’t want to pursue the case.” That’s probably the end of it, unless more evidence turns up. But Greitens’s resignation yesterday had nothing to do with the alleged affair, but with more serious crimes he’s been accused of involving illicit use of dark money, campaign finance violations and felony computer tampering. And today it appears that the resignation yesterday was part of a plea deal regarding the felony computer tampering charge. Greitens may yet face prosecution for the other charges.
With both Greitens and Puerto Rico case, anti-enlightenment forces seem hard at work. In the case of Puerto Rico, the current findings are in general agreement with two other studies according to PBS reports, and the "official government" report is the odd ball report. It is hard not to assume that a concerted effort is underway to distort perceptions of the reality and graveness of the real situation. So an unmanaged situation is turned into management of the press and public perceptions problem. Let no one say our empire mistreats it's possessions. We will create and cobble data to deny that. The official study for the "official" Puerto Rico report is still not out, and not even preliminary data is available. How fortunate. The forces of anti-enlightenment can hide behind this also.
In Greitens case, the problem of dark money as pay to play money, and the systemic efforts by Republicans to use it in that way, seems to get the attention of the anti-enlightenment forces. Damage control and message control seems more important than shining bright lights on the nest of cockroaches. Maha, your point is well taken, in that the muddled story and the distortion of the story is in itself a bigger story. I would guess some big political players are trying very hard not to be a part of the giant sucking sound that is the collapse of Greitens corrupt political scheme. So many dark money hands appear caught in that cookie jar.
The media is going to ride the story of a naked tied blindfolded woman in an illicit affair with a powerful man. Every time.
The other aspect is people with power buying influence in government. The reaction of the media will be: Nothing to see here, folks.
The big media paychecks depend on the billions spent on political ads every election cycle! Even the local anchors on your local stations are pushing high 6 figures now.
So I guess some dark money wants to remain that way.
As for his replacement, Lt Gov Parson, he got his start as a deputy sheriff in Hickory Co Missouri. And got fired for incompetence (seems he couldn't get his story straight on the witness stand more than once) so he moved south to Polk Co and did what every aspiring small r does…married a girl with a trust fund!
Seems her dad owns the biggest bank in Bolivar Mo.
And the rest is history.
Sebastian.. It's not Gorka, is it? Glad to see I got to you. Clearly, our understanding is existing on different planes, so when you manage to elevate your thinking skills to the point where you realize that you do have skin in the game…then maybe at that time we can reason together. But rather than sitting around waiting for an intellectual epiphany to occur I suggest you go to your local Barnes and Nobles and browse the self help book section. Be proactive in your intellectual development…and always remember, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.
It tickles me that the righties seem to have a phone number to call early in the day before they don their tighty whities to get their game plan. And once they get it, the spew it all over as if it were actually an argument. I'd heard "The View" enough times yesterday before dinner to know it was the day's password.
Swami, don't bother Sebastian with facts, he already knows that the colored fella what sat in the oval office before his god-king is to blame for all the ills that afflict the masses. If they can't play the Soro's card they can always whip out that colored fella!