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Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is taking the state attorney general to court to fight a 2nd felony prosecution
Missouri's embattled Republican governor, Eric Greitens, and its Republican attorney general and likely U.S. Senate nominee, Josh Hawley, are in an increasingly bitter feud over the legality and ethics of Greitens' activities in the run-up to his gubernatorial election. The St. Louis prosecutor has already indicted Greitens on one felony count for alleged invasion of privacy stemming from a messy extramarital affair with his hairdresser, and on Wednesday, Hawley announced he had uncovered "potentially criminal acts" by Greitens related to the use of the donor list for his charity. On Tuesday night, Greitens filed for a restraining order to bar Hawley from investigating him, The Kansas City Star reported Wednesday night.
Greiten's motion says that Hawley compromised any investigation into the governor's conduct when he called on him to resign, after the state House released a brutal report detailing the former mistress' allegations of violent behavior. "Hawley must recuse himself and his entire office from any investigation or prosecution related to Gov. Greitens or the governor's office," the motion reads, arguing that any investigation must be conducted by "a court-appointed special prosecutor independent of the (attorney general's office)."
A spokeswoman for Hawley's office, Mary Compton, called the recusal motion "frivolous" and said "we look forward to arguing this matter in court. ... The attorney general called for the governor's resignation because the House Investigative Committee reported substantial evidence of sexual, violent misconduct by the governor," not because of the charity list issue, she added. "The fact that the governor has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct does not mean he is exempt from investigation into other wrongdoing."