A report released by a Missouri House special committee Wednesday includes testimony from the woman who is central to the panel’s investigation of criminal charges against Governor Eric Greitens.  The woman restated an alleged encounter she reports having with Greitens – one that was widely reported in the media in January by way of an alleged taped conversation she had with her ex-husband. The woman described the event in a way consistent with an account shared by her ex-husband with a St. Louis TV station.

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

According to the committee report, the woman, referred to as Witness 1, said that after Greitens talked her into going to the basement at his home, he taped her hands to pull-up rings with “this gauzed tape stuff” and then blindfolded her.

The report says that moments later, Greitens ripped open her shirt and pulled down her pants.  The woman said to the committee, “[T]hen I hear him kind of, like, step back – take a step back and I hear – I can hear like a, like a cell phone – like a picture, and I can see a flash through the blindfold.”

The report notes that the committee does not possess any physical or electronic evidence of a photograph or its transmission.

The woman told the panel that she never saw an actual photo, but said she knew “he had an iPhone … And if he had iCloud, yes.”

She testified that Greitens then said “You’re not going to mention my name. Don’t even mention my name to anybody at all, because if you do, I’m going to take these pictures, and I’m going to put them everywhere I can. They are going to be everywhere, and then everyone will know what a little whore you are.”

The account is consistent, along with derogatory comments from Greitens, with information shared by the woman’s ex-husband who had secretly recorded a conversation with her several days later.

The woman went on to tell the committee that she tried to leave the home, but broke down and cried when Greitens held her in a bear hug.

She told the committee that Greitens then laid her down on the ground, preceded to lay down beside her and pulled down his pants.  The woman said that she consented to have oral sex with Greitens, but also feared for her “physical self.”

She described to the panel how he held his genitals six inches from her face.

The woman stated to the committee that, “he’s not going to let me leave because he’s obviously still horny.  So I gave him oral sex at this point.”

She also told the panel that, after leaving her keys at Greitens’ home, she returned later that day to retrieve them and confronted Greitens about the photo she believed he took.

The woman said Greitens told her, “I know…but you have to understand, I’m running for office, and people will get me, and I have to have some sort of thing to protect myself.”

She told the committee that Greitens said he had erased the photo because he felt bad.

Another woman who testified before the House committee, who was identified as witness 2, told the panel she spoke to the woman days after the encounter with Greitens. The report says witness 2’s testimony about the contents of her conversation with the woman were consistent with key portions of the woman’s testimony before the committee.

Another woman, witness 4, is characterized in the committee report as a confidant of the woman for 30 years.  Witness 4 gave the committee a similar acccounting to witness 2, also corroborating the woman’s testimony.

Farther into the committee report, the woman described an encounter with Greitens in which he seemed to acknowledge he took a photo but said he destroyed it: (Woman) “You took a picture.’ He said, ‘…, it’s just because I fantasized about you, I fantasized about all these things, and you could ruin my life. And – but I erased it.’”

Greitens’ defense team in the criminal case has repeatedly stated that the prosecution has not produced a photo that the defense contends is the basis for the charges against him.

The woman told the committee she went to Greitens’ house again in May 2015 and had consensual oral sex with him.

She told the panel that she returned to Greitens’ home in June 2015.  She said he slapped her after she admitted to sleeping with her estranged husband after having become intimate with Greitens. But she told the panel she didn’t think that slap was intended to hurt her.

In the committee report, the woman described still another meeting with Greitens as the two had been communicating with a Trac phone he had purchased.  She told the panel that he’d invited her over for a morning workout.  She said that when they had finished, “out of nowhere he kind of smacked me and grabbed me and shoved me down on the ground. And I instantly just started bawling and was just like, What is wrong with you? What is wrong with you? And I just laid there crying while he was just like…you’re fine, you’re fine.”

The woman testified before the committee that this incident may have left a mark, saying she remembered looking in a mirror afterward.

The House committee report notes that Greitens declined to testify before it.

All committee members signed the report, which explained that it was not tasked with making recommendations for any actions to be taken by the House or Senate.

The criminal trial is set to begin on May 14th at the St. Louis Circuit Court.

Reaction to the report from state lawmakers and officials has been swift.  Senate Democratic leader Gina Walsh quickly called for Greitens to resign immediately or possibly face consequences.

“If he refuses to do the right thing, the Missouri House of Representatives should move forward with the impeachment process.”

Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley later issued a statement calling for Greitens to step down, while also mentioning impeachment.

The conduct the report details is certainly impeachable, in my judgment, and the House is well within its rights to proceed on that front,” said Hawley.  “But the people of Missouri should not be put through that ordeal. Governor Greitens should resign immediately.”

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