BREAKING: Missouri GOP Gov. Eric Greitens Arrested On Felony Charge Over Revenge Porn Threat To Mistress

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens was indicted and taken into custody Thursday for felony invasion of privacy, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner’s office announced Thursday afternoon.

About 3:45 p.m., on the first floor of the Carnahan Courthouse in downtown St. Louis, a Post-Dispatch reporter saw Greitens being led down a hallway by several St. Louis city deputies. Officials later confirmed Greitens was taken into custody and then booked at the St. Louis Justice Center.

Gardner’s statement said a grand jury found probable cause to believe Greitens violated a Missouri statute that makes it a felony if a person transmits the image contained in the photograph or film in a manner that allows access to that image via a computer.

The Kansas City Star reports:



The allegations against Greitens surfaced shortly after he delivered his annual State of the State address last month. The ex-husband of the woman with whom Greitens had an affair gave St. Louis TV station KMOV an audio recording of her confessing the affair and accusing Greitens of threatening to blackmail her.

The woman involved in the matter has not made a comment and has repeatedly declined to participate in any news articles. The confession was recorded without her knowledge by her ex-husband and released to the media without her consent.

Greitens hired the St. Louis law firm Dowd Bennett to represent him in the circuit attorney’s criminal inquiry. In the last week, a former St. Louis circuit judge was added to his legal team, and Dowd Bennett hired a statehouse lobbyist who is employed by longtime GOP consultant Jeff Roe’s firm.

Last week, two investigators from the circuit attorney’s office were dispatched to the Capitol to interview lawmakers. Before they left town they had talked to roughly two dozen legislators, including House Speaker Todd Richardson, a Poplar Bluff Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe, a Jefferson City Republican.