MISSOURI: Revenge Porn Defense Fund Launched For GOP Governor, Separate Charity Scandal Unfolds

The Kansas City Star reports:

Supporters of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens have started a defense fund following his indictment on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge related to a 2015 extramarital affair. Internal Revenue Service records show the Republican governor’s backers started the nonprofit Friday.

It can take unlimited donations, but those contributions must be publicly reported. The nonprofit is called the ERG Defense Fund. The governor’s full name is Eric Robert Greitens.

A Missouri House committee tasked with investigating Greitens is set to meet for the first time. The special panel is scheduled to convene Tuesday for an organizational meeting. The bipartisan panel was formed by GOP House Speaker Todd Richardson in response to the Republican governor’s indictment on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge stemming from an extramarital affair.

The felony charge isn’t his only unfolding scandal:



A veterans’ charity founded by Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens says it will support an attorney general’s inquiry into “the misuse of our resources by the Greitens campaign.” The president of The Mission Continues sent an email to supporters Monday evening assuring them that the charity did not authorize Greitens’ campaign to use its donor list.

That comes after a spokeswoman for the Missouri attorney general’s office confirmed last week that it has an open inquiry into the charity. The Associated Press first reported in October 2016 that Greitens’ campaign had obtained the charity’s donor list in early 2015 and raised about $2 million from those on it.

Federal tax law prohibits charities such as The Mission Continues from being involved in political campaigns on behalf of candidates.