The defense team for Governor Eric Greitens is questioning the credibility of a private investigator and is accusing prosecutors of victimizing the woman at the center of the case.
Governor Eric Greitens photographed after being taken into custody (Photo courtesy of the St. Louis City Sheriff’s office)
KMOV-TV reports that attorneys for Greitens filed a motion Wednesday, calling for William Tisaby to produce additional documentation and do another deposition, at the prosecutors’ expense.
The motion questions whether Tisaby, who was hired by Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner to work on the case, made false statements during an initial deposition.
According to the TV station, the defense team’s motion also said the woman Greitens is alleged to have had an affair with and threatened to blackmail, has been victimized by her ex-husband and the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office.
KMOV quoted the defense motion as saying, “While we challenge KS’s credibility as to this occurrence, we in no way intend to attack her as a person.”
The woman’s former husband secretly recorded a conversation in which she described being bound and blindfolded while partially nude by Greitens, who then allegedly snapped a photo of her and threatened to distribute it if she mentioned his name.
KMOV further quoted the defense teams filing about the woman. “She has been victimized by both her former husband and the Circuit Attorney’s Office by having such a matter she rightly viewed as personal and private turned into a media and political circus. Under such circumstances, it is understandable that she would be telling a story which minimizes her own role. If an individual wanted to minimize their own culpability for infidelity, that would be expected.”
The TV station reported that the circuit attorney’s office had not responded to its inquiry about the defense motion.
Greitens is being investigated on a number of fronts by multiple groups. A special state House committee is examining the incident with the woman and felony invasion of privacy charges against Greitens as possible impeachable offenses. Meanwhile, the attorney general’s office is investigating the governor’s misuse of donor and email lists from his former charity for campaign purposes.
