Missouri governor, accused of threatening to blackmail mistress, admits to extramarital affair

Eric Greitens.
(Image credit: Craig Barritt/Getty Images)

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) confirmed on Wednesday that he had an extramarital affair, saying it was a "deeply personal mistake."

Greitens campaigned on being a family man, saying he's a "Navy SEAL, native Missourian, and most importantly, a proud husband and father." News 4 has spent several months working on an investigation into Greitens allegedly trying to blackmail a woman he had sexual encounters with in his home. News 4 obtained a recording from the woman's ex-husband in which the unidentified woman detailed her alleged affair with Greitens, including how after one intimate moment, he put a blindfold on her. "He stepped back, I saw a flash through the blindfold, and he said, 'You're never going to mention my name,' otherwise there will be pictures of me everywhere," she said on the tape. After he took the photo, she said, Greitens apologized and told her he deleted the picture.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.