Republican Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens confirmed to a local news outlet Wednesday that he had an extramarital affair after he was confronted with a recording that appears to be Greitens threatening his former mistress.

Greitens’ former mistress, who met the governor while cutting his hair, describes their first sexual encounter in a recording taken by the woman’s ex-husband without her knowledge. She alleges on the audio that Greitens bound her hands, blindfolded her and photographed her.

The unnamed ex-husband provided the recording to News 4, telling the outlet it was taken days after his ex-wife and Greitens began their affair in March 2015. His wife, confessing to her infidelity, explains to her husband that she met Greitens at the salon where she worked and instantly developed a “crush” on him. She later invited the governor to the couple’s home.

“He said: ‘I’ll make you feel better. I’ll make you feel good. Come downstairs. I want to show you how to do a proper pull-up.’ And I knew he was being sexual, and I still let him. And he used some sort of tape, I don’t what it was, and taped my hands to these rings and then put a blindfold on me,” the anonymous woman can be heard saying on the recording.

She goes on to say that she was frightened and unsure how to react.

“He stepped back, I saw a flash through the blindfold and he said: ‘you’re never going to mention my name, otherwise there will be pictures of me everywhere,'” she explained.

The man said he tried to reconnect with his wife following her confession but was unable to because she remained in touch with Greitens, sharing another physical encounter with him the very day he threatened to blackmail her. Her ex-husband said he was hesitant to expose the recording but, after being hounded by media and law enforcement in recent weeks amid the News 4 investigation, he decided the story would come to light eventually.

“Something happened, churned this, and had people hounding me, even leaving a voicemail on my daughter’s phone – when that happened, everything changed,” said the ex-husband to News 4.

The pair divorced in March 2016 and the man began attacking Greitens publicly later that year, calling him a “homewrecker” on social media.

“This didn’t just destroy our marriage, it destroyed an environment, an ecosystem, this destroyed it all,” he told News 4.

The governor, who refers to himself as a “proud husband and father,” released a statement with his wife in response to questions from News 4. The pair acknowledged the affair but made no mention of any photograph or blackmail threat.

“A few years ago, before Eric was elected Governor, there was a time when he was unfaithful in our marriage. This was a deeply personal mistake. Eric took responsibility, and we dealt with this together honestly and privately,” the statement reads. “While we never would have wished for this pain in our marriage, or the pain that this has caused others, with God’s mercy Sheena has forgiven and we have emerged stronger. We understand that there will be some people who cannot forgive – but for those who can find it in your heart, Eric asks for your forgiveness, and we are grateful for your love, your compassion, and your prayers.”

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