‘How are you not going to be Todd Akin?’ Conservative radio host Hewitt grills Greitens
Nationally-syndicated conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt grilled former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens Wednesday about the allegations of sexual blackmail and violence that he faces as he pursues a campaign for U.S. Senate.
Greitens, a Republican, resigned office in 2018 in the face of multiple scandals, including allegations he had photographed a woman without her consent while she was nude, bound and blindfolded in an effort to keep her from speaking about an extramarital affair.
In sworn testimony deemed credible by a GOP-led investigative committee, the woman alleged that after taking her photo Greitens forced her to perform oral sex.
“They’re going to read into the record witness 1, 2, 3, and 4 in front of the Missouri legislature accusing you of ‘half rape,’ of taking photographs,” Hewitt said, referring to a phrase used by the woman’s ex-husband on an audio recording that made the allegations public.
“They’re going to do that. How are you going to survive that? How are you not going to be Todd Akin?” Hewitt said, referring to the 2012 Missouri Republican Senate nominee whose candidacy imploded after Akin, a congressman from eastern Missouri, claimed in an interview that the female body can prevent pregnancy in cases of “legitimate rape.”
Greitens’ contentious interview with Hewitt coincided with the launch of Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s campaign for the Republican nomination. Appearing on Fox & Friends, Schmitt said Washington “needs more fighters, needs more reinforcements to save America.”
A Greitens spokesman did not respond to an email about the Hewitt interview or Schmitt’s campaign.
Akin’s failed campaign against then-Sen. Claire McCaskill has long been seen as one of the most disastrous in Missouri GOP history. Hewitt presented Greitens as a similarly toxic candidate, who would endanger Republicans’ chances of recapturing the Senate.
The Missouri Democratic Party sent out a fundraising email Tuesday featuring Greitens’ mug shot, taken when he was indicted on one count of felony invasion of privacy in 2018, a case later dropped. It was a clear indication that the controversies that caused him to leave office will continue to be a focal point in the campaign to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Roy Blunt in 2022.
As he’s sought to re-establish his political brand, Greitens has largely avoided Missouri media and focused instead on national conservative-leaning outlets, such as Fox News and Newsmax. In most of those interviews, he’s received few difficult questions.
Hewitt, on the other hand, offered up no softballs. He peppered Greitens with sharp questions about the allegations and investigations throughout the nearly 30-minute exchange, focusing largely on the findings of the House committee.
Greitens asserted his innocence throughout the interview.
“The people of Missouri know what happened. They saw this campaign orchestrated by the establishment and the left. They saw the lies that came. They’ve seen how the lies have been exposed. All of this is known to the people of Missouri, and it’s why the grassroots are with us. It’s why the people of Missouri are with us,” Greitens said.
He gave his most direct denial to date that the took the alleged photograph, saying the allegation was “absolutely 100% false” after giving more evasive answers on the question three years ago.
Greitens sought to present himself as the victim of “leftist lies,” but Hewitt rejected that characterization and repeatedly reminded the former governor that he faced the prospect of impeachment from a Republican-led legislature.
“That’s not on the left. That is in the GOP-controlled Missouri legislature,” Hewitt said.
Greitens’ claim that he has been “completely exonerated” by the Missouri Ethics Commission received little pushback from Fox News Host Bret Baier when the former governor announced his Senate candidacy Monday evening.
But Hewitt dismissed Greitens’ effort to conflate the commission’s campaign finance investigation with the legislature’s probe into the blackmail allegations.
“That investigation did not go into your affair, Eric. And when you were interviewed by AP, you repeatedly said it was consensual and non-violent, implying that the photograph you took was consented to,” Hewitt told Greitens, referencing a 2018 Associated Press story in which Greitens did not directly answer whether he took the photograph.
“The witness disagreed with that,” Hewitt said.
He also noted that Greitens’ campaign was fined $178,000 as a result of the commission’s investigation, which found evidence that the campaign broke the law.
The commission said it did not find evidence of wrongdoing by Greitens individually, which he has presented as a blanket exoneration of the various allegations he faced as governor. Hewitt asked Greitens if he took responsibility for the campaign’s misconduct as its leader.
“Hugh, at the end of the day, there were individuals who did things on the campaign that they shouldn’t have done. That’s why the fine came up. And they were very clear after the most extensive investigation in the history of Missouri. There was no evidence of any wrongdoing by me. Those are the facts,” Greitens said.
The GOP field could grow larger as a host of high-profile Republicans, including Reps. Ann Wagner, Billy Long, Jason Smith and Vicky Hartzler, are weighing runs for the seat.
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 1:41 PM.
