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Missouri judge continues to weigh request to dismiss prosecutor in felony case against Greitens

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St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison is considering a request to disqualify St. Louis prosecutors in a second criminal case involving Gov. Eric Greitens. The governor’s defense team argues that the special investigator, William Don Tisaby, who was hired by the circuit attorney lied repeatedly in Greitens’ felony invasion of privacy case, all under St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s watch. During Tuesday’s court hearing, the defense claims this has tainted Gardner’s ability to prosecute a felony computer data tampering case against Greitens. The defense wants a special prosecutor assigned to the case.

St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner

The prosecution argues that Tisaby’s involvement in the computer data tampering case has been minimal.

The judge made no ruling but told attorneys to submit a list to him of potential special prosecutors.

On Friday, Gardner, a Democrat charged Greitens by complaint with computer tampering, which is like electronic theft. The charge stems from the governor’s alleged attempt to take and use a donor list from his former charity – The Mission Continues – without the permission of charity officials.

Last year, Greitens paid a $100 penalty after admitting he received the donor list. The donor information was used to bankroll the governor’s political campaign.

Greitens, a Republican, has criticized Gardner’s second charge against him by saying Gardner will use any charge she can to smear him. He is scheduled to go on trial May 14 for a felony invasion of privacy charge.

By Alisa Nelson and Missourinet contributing reporter Jill Enders

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Missouri Legislature is asked to recognize pornography as a public health risk

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A Columbia man says his pornography addiction led him to become suicidal in 1992. Art Dyer, a chaplain at the MU Health Center in Columbia, says he supports a proposed Missouri Senate resolution that would declare pornography as a public health crisis.

Missouri Senate

“I had a secret addiction to pornography, which my wife did not know about. But, the secret life created such conflict within me that I became discouraged,” says Dyer. “It was only through talking to her, working it out and a lot of counseling, a lot of therapy, that I was able to deal with my addiction.”

For the past seven years, Dyer has been working to help those to come out of sexual addiction. He says he’s amazed at how many young people who are having relationship difficulties with the women in their lives because of pornography.

Bev Ehlen with Concerned Women for America of Missouri says she supports the resolution that would also acknowledge the need for education, prevention and policy changes about pornography.

“It’s not your grandpa’s Playboy or detective magazine with the onslaught of internet pornography,” she says.

Ehlen goes on to say 20% of pornography is child rape.

Heather Sparks of eastern Missouri’s St. Charles County says pornography is used as a training manual for sex trafficking.

“Traffickers and sex-spirers get ideas from porn and make their victims watch as a way of showing them what they’ll be expected to do,” Sparks says.

No one spoke in opposition to the resolution that contends pornography perpetuates “a sexually toxic environment” and contributes “to the hypersexualization of teenagers and children before they hit puberty. The measure is sponsored by Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar.

(DOCUMENTS) Greitens charged with felony in charity donor list controversy

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Gov. Eric Greitens

Gov. Eric Greitens, R, has been charged with another felony – this time for tampering with computer data. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has charged Greitens in response to taking a donor list from the governor’s former charity – The Mission Continues – allegedly without the proper permission of charity officials. That list was used for campaign fundraising purposes. Gardner has filed the charge against Greitens with two possible ways of potentially convicting him.

A law limiting how long legal action can be taken after a potential crime is committed made today the last day that Gardner, a former Democratic State Representative, could file charges. The statute of limitations for such charges is three years.

Earlier this week, Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican, turned over evidence of his investigation into the donor list to Gardner that he said “would rise to the level of probable cause”. He said the deadline to file charges was quickly approaching.

“The Office stands ready to assist the Circuit Attorney’s Office where appropriate and if needed. These are serious charges—and an important reminder that no one is above the law in Missouri. Like all criminal defendants, Governor Greitens is presumed innocent under the law until proven guilty,” Hawley says in a press release.

St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner

Greitens’ lawyers responded to Hawley’s announcement earlier this week by calling the claim “frivolous” and “inappropriate.”

Last year, Greitens paid a $100 penalty to the Missouri Ethics Commission after admitting he received the donor list.

A court date has not been scheduled.

To see the corresponding documents with the charges, click here.

Legislative aide arrested at Missouri Capitol for child sex crime allegations

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Carter Ballman

A Missouri House legislative aide faces child sex crime allegations. A press release from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office says 24-year-old Carter Ballmann of Jefferson City has been arrested for responding to an online post by an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old female. Ballmann allegedly persuaded the decoy to sneak out of her home and requested nude photos of her.

In a statement to Missourinet, State Rep. Mark Matthiesen, R-Maryland Heights, says he has fired Ballmann.

“I am stunned and deeply concerned by Carter Ballmann’s arrest and the extremely serious nature of the criminal charge filed against him. While I think it’s important to allow the legal system to determine his guilt or innocence, I have made the immediate decision to end his employment with my office. I have provided complete cooperation with law enforcement in this matter and will continue to do so going forward. Out of respect for the ongoing investigation and the legal process, I will not comment further,” says Matthiesen.

Law enforcement officials cannot confirm whether state resources, such as a computer, have been confiscated as possible evidence.

The suspect’s bond has been set at $100,000. At the time of this story being published, Ballman has not been charged.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Blunt questions Facebook executive during lengthy U.S. Senate panel hearing

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U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, is one of several lawmakers who questioned Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for several hours today. The joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees involved Facebook’s influence in the 2016 election and whether to regulate the industry – something Zuckerberg strongly opposes.

Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri)

Last year, it was learned that Russians used the social media platform to create political friction deep in the 2016 election cycle by using Facebook and pages to distribute false information. Zuckerberg was also questioned why Facebook didn’t tell 87 million users in 2015 that their information was sold to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. The British firm reportedly profiled 2016 voters and is linked to Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign – potentially influencing the outcome of the 2016 election.

“When we heard back from Cambridge Analytica that they had told us that they weren’t using the data and deleted it, we considered it a closed case,” Zuckerberg said. “In retrospect, that was clearly a mistake. We shouldn’t have taken their word for it.”

Facebook did not inform the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the improper data sharing. The FTC is also reportedly investigating Facebook about how the company’s user privacy has been handled.

Blunt questioned Zuckerberg about recent reports that the Facebook app, while being used on Android phones, collects extraordinary amounts of information about users’ cell phone usage without their permission.

“Am I able to say it’s okay for you (Facebook) to track what I’m saying on Facebook but I don’t want you to track what I’m texting to somebody else off Facebook on an Android,” asks Blunt.

“Yes, Senator. In general, Facebook is not collecting data from other apps that you use,” Zuckerberg says. “Unless you specifically opt in that you want to share the texting app information, Facebook wouldn’t see that.”

“Has it always been that way,” Blunt asks.

“Senator, my understanding is that that is how the mobile operating systems are architected,” Zuckerberg responds.

The 33-year-old Zuckerberg, uncharacteristically wearing a suit and tie, took responsibility for Facebook’s missteps and says the company is working to prevent future malfeasance.

He will also testify Wednesday before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, R, has also launched an investigation into Facebook’s sharing and tracking of user information.

Hawley investigates if Facebook knows and shares too much about its users, Android consumers

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Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley has launched an investigation into Facebook’s sharing and tracking of personal information of its users. At a press conference on Monday in Jefferson City, Hawley says the probe includes whether Facebook’s mobile app, while being used on Android phones, collects and stores extraordinary amounts of details about consumers’ cell phone usage without their permission and gives that information away. Missouri has joined 36 other states in requesting answers from Facebook about its business practices.

Photo courtesy of Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office

“There are allegations that third parties have not just used information on the profile that you or other consumers have posted, but they’ve been able through Facebook to gain access to things like phone records, text messaging and web pages visited,” Hawley says.

He goes on to say that Facebook tracks what pages users visit, what links they click on in the app, what messages are seen or sent, all contacts in users’ phones, what things they might be interested in based off what they like, all the applications they’ve linked to, files downloaded by consumers and more.

Hawley says news reports reveal that at least 50 million Facebook profiles might have been shared with third parties – prompting him to issue subpoenas to the social media giant. Hawley wants to know if the company has broken state regulations involving deceptive and unfair business practices. If violations are found, the company faces a variety of fines and other hefty penalties.

“People all over Missouri, put their lives on their profiles with the expectation that they are sharing this information with people they choose to connect to, not with unknown, random third parties,” he says. “Somewhere along the way though, while we built our personal profiles to share with our friends and family, Facebook built a profile on us, a profile that they have reportedly shared with third parties who want to make a profit, earn a vote or somehow persuade us to make a decision that may be in their best interest but not necessarily in ours,” Hawley says.

Business news company Bloomberg reports that Hawley is asking Facebook to disclose every time it’s shared user information with a political campaign or political action committee, how much those campaigns paid Facebook for such data, and whether users were notified.

He has also reportedly requested information about Facebook’s interaction with British political data mining firm Cambridge Analytica. The business is being investigated for the alleged misuse of data to try to influence America’s 2016 presidential race.

Hawley also wants to see all communications, documents and evidence about meetings Facebook had with former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign. He points to reports that the company voluntarily gave the campaign access to user data.

Hawley, a Republican frontrunner in the U.S. Senate race to try and unseat Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill, has also launched recent investigations targeting major tech companies like Google, Equifax and Uber.

Judge rejects request by Greitens’ legal team to dismiss felony case

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Attorneys representing Missouri Governor Eric Greitens in a felony invasion of privacy case struck out twice today. St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison denied two requests made by the legal team for the Republican governor.

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI)

The defense argued that Greitens deserves a bench trial, not a jury trial. His lawyers say there has been too much pre-trial publicity and that could taint a jury. However, the judge sided with the prosecution and denied the defense’s request for a judge to decide the outcome of the case. Despite the ruling, former U.S. attorney and Greitens defense attorney Ed Dowd is looking ahead.

“We’re very happy with having a jury and just look forward to a speedy and a fair trial, which I know we’ll get here,” Dowd told reporters after today’s hearing in St. Louis.

The defense also argued for the dismissal of the felony indictment against the governor. Greitens’ attorneys claim the prosecution misled the grand jury about Missouri’s invasion of privacy law when describing what was done with the photo the governor allegedly took of his former mistress.

Defense lawyer Jim Martin, a former U.S. attorney, also stated in his argument that there’s no evidence the photo exists or that it was transferred. He made reference to Greitens’ former mistress telling the grand jury that she never saw a camera during the sexual encounter.

The disrobed woman was allegedly tied up to a piece of exercise equipment and blindfolded while Greitens took the picture. She told her ex-husband that the governor threatened to blackmail her with the image if she spoke of the romance. Greitens then told the woman that he erased the image. The governor is accused of transmitting the picture in a manner that allowed access to the image via computer.

The prosecution responded to the defense’s argument that the transmission of the alleged photo can be “circumstantially inferred from the use of the iPhone” because “devices know how to transmit to the cloud.”

The affair happened while Greitens was campaigning for governor in 2015. Greitens has confessed to the extramarital relationship but has denied the blackmail accusation.

The trial begins May 14 in St. Louis.

By Alisa Nelson and Missourinet contributor Jill Enders.

Greitens trial will be decided by a jury, not a judge

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Governor Eric Greitens’ felony invasion of privacy case will be up to a St. Louis jury to resolve. During a court hearing today, St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison announced his decision to reject the request made by the governor’s legal team to have a judge decide the case. The Greitens legal team argued that a bench trial is key to getting an objective outcome.

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

Greitens’ defense lawyers continue to request dismissal of the indictment. Burlison is expected to rule on the request soon.

During today’s court hearing, there was no discussion about the ex-husband’s request for a protection order against the governor. In a motion filed, the man says he is highly fearful of Greitens after the governor demonstrated reckless disregard for damages caused to the ex-husband, his former wife, and his children. It says the ex-husband fears actions Greitens might take using his skill set as a former Navy SEAL.

On February 22, a St. Louis grand jury indicted the governor on a felony invasion of privacy charge for allegedly taking a picture of his disrobed mistress in 2015 without her permission. The woman was reportedly blindfolded and bound to a piece of exercise equipment in Greitens’ St. Louis home.

In a private conversation with her ex-husband that was allegedly taped without her knowledge, the potential victim told him that the governor threatened to blackmail her with the image if she told anyone about their romantic relationship. She went on to say that Greitens then said he erased the image. The governor is accused of transmitting the picture in a manner that allowed access to the image via computer.

The love affair happened while Greitens was campaigning for governor in 2015. Greitens has admitted to the extramarital relationship but has denied the blackmail allegation.

The trial begins May 14 in St. Louis.

Missouri Senate bill would phase out most electronic voting machines

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State Senator Bill Eigel-R Weldon Spring

Missouri could largely reduce the number of electronic voting machines it uses at election polls and instead rely heavily on the traditional paper ballots method. A Senate committee could vote this week on the proposal sponsored by State Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring. He says his measure would create a double layer of protection by having a physical record of each vote.

“This would slowly phase them (machines) out upon life cycle replacement or mechanical failure,” he says. “So we’re not going to require anybody who has electronic devices to arbitrarily replace something that still has a useful lifespan.”

Eigel says his legislation would still allow polling locations to be equipped with devices that could serve disabled voters.

Phillip Michaels of eastern Missouri’s University City has built computer systems for large and small companies. He says St. Louis County has about 1,500 electronic machines and Eigel’s bill would have real savings.

“The machines cost $5,000 apiece, roughly. When the time comes that they need to replace the machines, sometime in the future, they won’t need as many machines,” he says. “Now 1,000 machines at $5,000 apiece, that’s $5 million. That’ll buy 25 years of paper ballots.

Election officials must start setting up machines days in advance and run several testing measures on them before Election Day. Michaels cites the operational costs increasing since 2006 – when electronic voting machines launched in St. Louis County.

“In the four years prior to the introduction of these machines, the average cost for the Election Commission of St. Louis County was $5 million. In the five years after the introduction of these machines, the average cost was $7 million,” Michaels says.

He says the under-discussed side is auditing concerns.

“There is no capability to effectively audit the outcome of elections, largely in the urban areas because the rural areas are already using basically paper ballots. They (rural areas) put these machines out for the disabled and that’s it,” he says.

Cynthia Richards with a non-partisan group called Missourians for Transparent and Secure Elections, says the only way to know the election results produced by software are accurate and not the results desired by a hacker is to have a software-free record of the vote.

“A study commissioned by a former Ohio Secretary of State found that a hacker equipped with a simple palm pilot and a magnet could take complete control of the same electronic voting machine used heavily in St. Louis County,” Richards says.

She cites a computer science professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, Giovanni Vigna, who says a hacker can change thousands of votes however they want in an untraceable way.

“These machines sit in school janitor closets, church basements, certainly not under the same tight security they have at the Board of Elections,” she says. “A hacker knows about the pre and post-election testing. So a hacker getting access to the machines would program a virus to operate only during voting hours, ensuring that it would remain undetected during the pre and post-election testing.”

According to Dave Guest, a St. Louis County poll worker, low battery voltage on the machines can also lose votes. He says that’s why workers must check on machine voltage throughout each election day. He says screen calibration issues also raise reliability concerns.

Mark Rhoads, with the Missouri Association of County Clerks and Election Authorities, opposes the measure and says electronic machines make elections more efficient.

“Rural Missouri is using paper ballots. In our larger jurisdictions, a voter is always given the opportunity to take a paper ballot. What we find is because of the efficiencies, the standing in line times, etc., voters prefer the electronic equipment,” he says.

If the legislature passes the bill this year and the measure is signed into law by the governor, the law would not begin until next year.

Missouri Congresswoman on Russia’s Twitter trolling: America needs to wake up

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Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-Missouri)

West-Central Missouri Republican Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler says Russia is exploiting U.S. squabbles through its social media intervention. During a House committee hearing this week, Hartzler spoke about a report that Russian Twitter trolls and robots increased the panic during Mizzou’s 2015 campus protests and elsewhere by putting out fake information tweets and inflammatory statements.

“I think as Americans, we need to wake up,” said Hartzler. “This is what our adversaries are doing across the world, whether it be Russia or China.”

Hartzler, whose district includes Mizzou, said Americans should rally against the new type of warfare the country’s enemies are waging. She described the activity as egging it on.

“It’s like when someone gets in a fight and there’s someone in the back of the room saying ‘Yeah, punch him! He’ll think you’re weak,’” she said.

An Air Force Colonel’s report said the social media account tied to Mizzou’s unrest pretended to be from Columbia but was traced back to Russia.

The anti-racism protests led to the resignations of Mizzou’s president and chancellor and left a mark on the school’s enrollment figures.

Hartzler also chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Brad Tregnago of Missourinet affiliate KSSZ in Columbia contributed to this story.