A private company run by Missouri Governor Eric Greitens has been subpoenaed by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

Governor Eric Greitens photographed after being taken into custody (Photo courtesy of the St. Louis City Sheriff’s office)

The Greitens Group was a company set up by Greitens to separate his money-making operations such as speaking engagements and distribution of his books from The Mission Continues, his charity dedicated to veterans.

Attorney General Josh Hawley previously said his office had subpoenaed 15 people from the Greitens Group as well as The Mission Continues and Greitens’ campaign.

St. Louis television station KMOV reports Hawley’s office confirmed that the governor accepted service of the Greitens Group subpoena “through his counsel” and that “Eric Greitens is the registered agent for the Greitens Group”.

Hawley is investigating Greitens’ misuse of donor and email lists from his charity for his campaign but has said the probe will follow the facts wherever they lead his office.

Greitens faces a felony invasion of privacy charge for taking a photo of his partially nude mistress and threatening to distribute it if she mentioned his name.

His trial date is set for May 14th in St. Louis Circuit Court.  A judge rejected Greitens request to move the court hearing to an earlier date in March.

Meanwhile, the Missouri House rejected Greitens’ request to delay a committee report on his alleged criminal activity until after the trial.  His attorney had said the findings could impact jury selection.

There was brief drama at the state Capitol in Jefferson City on Thursday when the committee’s chairman, Republican Rep. Jay Barnes of Jefferson City, said the panel’s report would not be coming out on Monday as scheduled.

After Minority Floor Leader Gail McCann Beatty, D-Kansas City, complained about an indefinite delay, Barnes quickly issued a statement saying the report would be released next week.

Both sides in the criminal case have exchanged accusations toward each other.  Wednesday, Greitens’ defense team questioned whether a private investigator hired by the prosecutor made false statements during a deposition and called for him to produce additional documentation and do another deposition, at the prosecutors’ expense.

Also, Governor Geitens hired Washington, D.C. attorney Ross Garber to represent his office in the case, which means tax money will be used to pay Garber’s salary.  Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Brown, R-Rolla, told reporters Thursday his panel will have discussions with constitutional attorneys about Greitens’ use of taxpayer funds in the case.

“I don’t think that’s probably appropriate,” said Brown.  “If you don’t want to use your own general counsel and you don’t want to use counsel provided for you…you want different counsel, then I think you should probably be responsible for paying the bill, not the taxpayers.”

The hiring of an outside attorney normally involves the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.  But a Hawley spokesperson recently told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that no request to hire Garber was made or authorized.

Garber has previously represented three other embattled governors facing impeachment – Robert Bentley of Alabama, Mark Sanford of South Carolina and John Rowland of Connecticut.