Photos show Eric Greitens’ abuse of child, Sheena Greitens says in new court document
Sheena Greitens, the ex-wife of U.S. Senate candidate Eric Greitens, says in a new court filing that she has documentation of the former governor’s alleged abuse, including photos of injuries to their child in 2019.
The former Missouri first lady also said allegations of the former governor’s abusive behavior have been reported to multiple lawyers, therapists and their mediator, contradicting assertions by Eric Greitens that they weren’t disclosed in the past.
“The only person who has ever sought to exploit me or our children for political gain is Eric,” Sheena Greitens said in a document filed in Boone County Circuit Court late last week.
The new filing comes two weeks after Sheena Greitens filed an explosive affidavit containing allegations of domestic violence against Eric Greitens, including that he knocked her down, confiscated her cell phone and struck one of their children. She has also alleged that he threatened and intimidated her to maintain her silence.
The allegations have shaken up the Senate race, with many Republicans calling on Greitens to drop out amid fears he would be a disastrous general election candidate. Democrats are also working with fresh urgency to be prepared if they face Greitens in November. Trudy Busch Valentine, an heir to the Anheuser-Busch fortune, jumped into the Democratic primary last week.
Eric Greitens has broadly denied the allegations and has described them as a political smear carried out by national Republicans.
Tim Parlatore, Greitens attorney, accused Sheena Greitens of lying in a statement sent out by his campaign Tuesday. He also claimed she lied about reporting her abuse to attorneys, therapists and mediators — because they are bound by confidentiality agreements.
“Sheena Greitens lied in a sworn affidavit alleging abusive behavior that never happened,” Parlatore said. “Her false story is contradicted by numerous photographs, videos, medical and dental records, and even Sheena’s own emails.”
Eric Greitens resigned as governor in 2018 amid allegations of blackmailing and sexually assaulting his former hairdresser. His Senate campaign, an attempt at a political comeback, has been centered on an anti-establishment message and he has worked to weave the latest allegations into that narrative.
Over the past two weeks Eric Greitens and his attorneys have been accusing Sheena Greitens of being a “victim” of a political hit job orchestrated by veteran Republican operative Karl Rove and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Greitens has provided no definitive proof that the allegations were fabricated by Republican operatives. But his attorneys have filed subpoenas in Boone County Circuit Court seeking electronic communications records of Rove, Sheena Greitens, Sheena Greitens’ sister and a former Greitens staffer.
Sheena Greitens, in the filing, says neither Rove nor McConnell had any role in drafting the affidavit. “The only person I have been ‘victimized’ by is Eric,” Sheena Greitens says. She also calls her ex-husband’s claims a “bizarre and imaginary political conspiracy.”
In a long statement the day of Sheena Greitens initial allegations, his campaign questioned her mental health, alleging she had a history of illness and calling her a “deranged individual.” Greitens has since claimed in radio interviews that he would not smear Sheena Greitens.
Sheena Greitens contrasts the two messages in the filing and says his claims about her mental health history aren’t true. She says the only mental health assistance she has sought was between January 2018 and April 2020, first to find out whether the marriage was salvageable, and then “to cope with the traumatic consequences of Eric’s behavior.”
At a press conference in Washington, D.C. last week, a Greitens lawyer accused Sheena Greitens of perjuring herself because she did not bring up her allegations against Greitens when she signed off on their initial divorce and child custody agreement in 2020. He dismissed the notion that victims of domestic abuse sometimes wait years to come forward.
“Again, this is not true,” Sheena Greitens says in response. “It is an attempt to retaliate against and intimidate me simply for telling the truth in a sworn affidavit,” she says.
She said she is prepared to provide evidence showing the allegations of abuse were in fact shared with others.
“I will provide contemporaneous documentation of the relevant communications, as well as photographic evidence of my child’s 2019 injuries, to the court at the appropriate time,” Sheena Greitens says.
The former couple are engaged in a court fight over whether their custody dispute should be moved from Missouri to Texas, where Sheena Greitens is an East Asia professor at the University of Texas-Austin. The filings come ahead of a May hearing in the case.
Already, the allegations appear to have affected Greitens campaign. Both of Missouri’s senators and all of Greitens major opponents have called on him to drop out of the race. Polling by the Trafalgar Group last week showed signs that the race is essentially a toss up between Greitens, Rep. Vicky Hartzler and Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
Greitens has given no indication he is considering ending his campaign.
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 10:14 AM.
