Missouri House leader names committee to investigate Greitens

A Missouri House committee made up of five Republicans and two Democrats will investigate allegations that Gov. Eric Greitens threatened to release a nude photograph of a woman with whom he was having an affair to keep her from talking about it.

The governor was indicted last week by a St. Louis grand jury and charged with felony invasion of privacy. He’s admitted to having an affair in 2015 but denied he blackmailed the woman.

The committee was appointed Monday by House Speaker Todd Richardson, a Poplar Bluff Republican, and its investigation is the first step toward possible impeachment.

Rep. Jay Barnes, a Jefferson City Republican and an attorney whose practice focuses on personal injury, privacy law and consumer protection, will chair the committee and lead the investigation.

Barnes previously served as general counsel of the Missouri Senate and policy counsel and speechwriter for former Republican Gov. Matt Blunt. During his tenure in the House he has chaired several legislative investigative committees during, most notably the 2011 inquiry into the failed artificial sweetener company that received incentives to build in northern Missouri.

"This committee's task is going to be to investigate the facts," Barnes said in a news conference Monday afternoon. "We're going to do so in a way that is fair, thorough and timely, and we're going to do it without being preordained to the results."

Barnes added the focus of the committee's investigation will be on the underlying facts of the indictment and the "circumstances surrounding that."

Other members of the committee:

• Rep. Kevin Austin, a Springfield Republican and an attorney whose practice focuses on business counseling and litigation and insurance defense.
  
  
• Rep. Shawn Rhoads, a West Plains Republican and a former police detective.
  
  
• Rep. Donald Phillips, a Kimberling City Republican and a retired state trooper with the Missouri Highway Patrol.
  
  
• Rep. Jeanie Lauer, a Blue Springs Republican who owns a training and professional development company.
  
  
• Rep. Gina Mitten, a St. Louis County Democrat and an attorney whose practice focuses on civil litigation and domestic relations.
  
  
• Rep. Tommie Pierson Jr., a St. Louis Democrat, a math teacher and pastor of inStep Church in St. Charles.
  
  

The committee will have subpoena power, and if good cause is found, it could draft articles of impeachment to be reported to the House.

A constitutional majority in the House — 82 of the chamber’s 163 members — would be needed to impeach Greitens.

There are currently 115 Republicans and 47 Democrats in the House.

If the House votes to impeach, the Senate would select a special commission of seven judges to try the case. If five of the seven judges agree that the governor is guilty, the governor would be removed from office and the lieutenant governor, Mike Parson, would take over and serve the rest of the term, which runs until January 2021.

Greitens’ attorney, Edward Dowd, said last week that the governor’s legal team would work with the committee.

As for the criminal charges, a jury trial date has been tentatively set for May 14 by Judge Rex Burlison.

"We have asked for a trial setting because we believe our client is innocent and afforded to his day in court," said Jim Bennett, a member of Greitens' legal team.

Susan Rice, spokeswoman for the circuit attorney's office, said that although the judge has put a May trial date on the docket, that date is tentative and could move. She also noted that because this is an ongoing investigation, additional charges are possible.

Shortly after Richardson unveiled the investigative committee, Reps. Shamed Dogan and Marsha Haefner, both St. Louis County Republicans, held a news conference publicly calling for the governor to resign.

They said about a dozen House Republicans have signed a letter joining them in their call for resignation. They did not make the list of signatories available to the media.

Haefner was among five Republicans who called on Greitens to step down shortly after the allegations surfaced last month.

Dogan said he didn't decide to join the call for resignation until he saw the indictment and the governor's motion to dismiss.

"It is hard to see how he can be an effective governor or leader of the Missouri Republican Party," he said, "while fighting a criminal case in court."

The Star's Bryan Lowry and Lindsay Wise contributed to this story.