Members of Congress ask Department of Defense to investigate Eric Greitens’ campaign video
Two members of Congress have called on the U.S. Department of Defense to investigate whether former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens broke the law when he released a video for his U.S. Senate campaign last month saying he would hunt members of the Republican party.
In a letter sent earlier this month to Sean O’Donnell, the acting Defense Department inspector general, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California and Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said Greitens’ campaign video raised legal questions about whether a military insignia displayed on one of the helmets in the video was authorized by the military.
The letter also questioned whether the uniformed people alongside Greitens in the video were active military members and whether Greitens’ claim that he is a Navy SEAL violated the law.
Lieu and Kinzinger, who both served in the military, wrote that Greitens’ video promoted political violence and was “certainly un-American.” Kinzinger is one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump and is one of two Republicans on the committee in charge of investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“We respectfully request that the Office of the Inspector General launch a formal investigation into the actions of Mr. Greitens and those who appeared in his political advertisement video to determine whether any provision of law or DoD directive was violated,” the letter said.
The campaign video posted on social media last month showed Greitens, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, with a shotgun while he talked about hunting for RINOs, an acronym for “Republicans in name only.” It then showed Greitens with a group of people in tactical gear breaking down the door of a house, throwing a smoke bomb and entering the room.
In the video, Greitens introduced himself as a Navy SEAL. But the former governor is no longer a Navy SEAL and also has not been affiliated with the Navy Reserve or the Department of the Navy for more than a year, a Navy Reserve spokesperson confirmed to The Star last month.
In the letter to O’Donnell, Lieu and Kinzinger cited a directive from the Department of Defense that states political candidates may note their military rank in campaign advertisements, but must make clear their retired or reserve status.
The letter also said that one of the people in Greitens’ video was wearing the insignia for the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division on their helmet. The division is based out of Hawaii. The letter cited another DOD directive that campaign videos featuring military uniforms must include a disclaimer that the use of the uniform was not endorsed by the department or the military.
Greitens’ campaign video published on social media did not feature any such disclaimer, the letter noted.
Prior to the letter from Lieu and Kinzinger, a U.S. Army spokesperson confirmed last month that the military branch did not endorse Greitens’ video.
“The U.S. Army was not involved in the production of this ad and does not endorse this, or any, political advertisement,” U.S. Army Lieut. Col. Terence M. Kelley said in a statement. “We are unaware of any Soldiers participating in the ad.”
The Star’s Daniel Descrochers and McClatchy White House correspondent Michael Wilner contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 20, 2022 at 11:05 AM.
