greitens_charity allegations
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JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley's office has turned over evidence to the St. Louis circuit attorney for possible charges against Gov. Eric Greitens. The evidence is related to a donor list from the governor's charity, The Mission Continues.
"We have uncovered evidence of wrongdoing beyond Missouri's charity laws. To be specific within the last several days, we have obtained evidence of potential criminal violations," Hawley said.
The evidence obtained, Hawley said, shows Greitens took an electronic donor list from the charity without permission and then used that list for political fundraising. Hawley said this falls under computer tampering, which, given of the value of the list, could be a felony.
"We’ve done a thorough review of this matter, and we know that there’s no wrongdoing here. In fact, there’s nothing close to wrongdoing. Eric built The Mission Continues from scratch, and he helped thousands of veterans by doing so," Greitens' attorney Jim Martin said. "The Attorney General held a completely frivolous and inappropriate press conference on a non-issue."
Hawley said his office began investigating about two months ago, gathering multiple subpoenas, thousands of pages of evidence, and many witnesses.
The case is currently within statute of limitations for charging, but Hawley said that window is closing quickly.
"A charging decision must be made very soon, which is the reason for my announcement this morning," Hawley said.
Hawley's office does not have jurisdiction for this case; the St. Louis circuit attorney is responsible for any charging decisions.
The House committee investigating Greitens' affair case now also has the evidence; Hawley said a court granted permission for him to share what his office found. He said this case could establish grounds for impeachment.
"I do think that this evidence would likely support the finding of probable cause that a crime was committed, again, so it could be charged. The standards for impeachment say that a crime is grounds for impeachment, so I think you could certainly say that these appear to be impeachable offenses. That is a decision for the House to make however, and that's whey we're giving them everything that we have."
