Some Missouri House Democrats have filed a resolution to authorize a panel to investigate reports issued by a special House committee investigating Republican Governor Eric Greitens.
Missouri House floor
16 Democrats signed a letter authored by Representative Peter Meredith of St. Louis that was addressed to Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson of Poplar Bluff.
In it, Meredith says the resolution would allow the panel to determine if there’s a cause to impeach Greitens and if so, introduce articles of impeachment. He said the special House committee would then be free to further investigate the activities of the governor.
The letter expressed frustration that no action has been taken on a resolution introduced by Democratic House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty.
Her submission filed two weeks ago would authorize the special House committee to investigate and introduce articles of impeachment. It has not been assigned any committee for consideration.
The letter asks Speaker Richarson to immediately refer the new resolution to a committee. It says a failure to do so tells constituents that credible allegations of “atrocious sexual assault” on the part of Greitens are insufficient cause to remove him from the state’s highest office.
The correspondence also notes that Republican Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard of Joplin has called for impeachment and that Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley has confirmed details in the report are sufficient for impeachment.
The letter specifically addresses Greitens’ felony Invasion of Privacy charge for allegedly taking a photo of a partially nude woman without consent and transmitting the image in a manner that allowed access to it through a computer.
The special House committee is also looking into Greitens’ alleged use of a donor list from his former charity without permission for campaign purposes. The governor faces a felony computer tampering charge related to that accusation.
Both criminal charges were brought in St. Louis because the city is where the charity is located and where the alleged incident with the woman took place. Both cases are being pursued by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.
