Attorney General Hawley says he has evidence Gov. Eric Greitens committed a felony

JEFFERSON CITY — Attorney General Josh Hawley on Tuesday said his office has evidence that Gov. Eric Greitens, a fellow Republican, may have stolen from his own charity.

Hawley told reporters gathered at a news conference that his office recently referred evidence to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's office indicating that Greitens may have committed computer tampering, a Class D felony.

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The alleged crime is related to a donor list from The Mission Continues, a charity Greitens founded, that later was used for campaign fundraising purposes. Greitens founded the nonprofit after serving as a Navy SEAL.

The list was for the charity's internal use, Hawley said, but "Mr. Greitens, however, used that list for political fundraising, he transmitted that list for political fundraising and he did all of this without the permission of The Mission Continues."

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Hawley did not say when the allegedly illegal activity occurred, nor did he clarify when his office became aware of substantial evidence to support a statement of probable cause. Asked what the statute of limitations was, he only said that the deadline to file charges is "fast approaching."

Hawley said he did not have proper jurisdiction but provided evidence to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner's office after receiving a court's permission.

"We stand ready to assist the circuit attorney in any way she may require," Hawley said.

A spokeswoman for Gardner acknowledged that Hawley's team had transmitted evidence to the St. Louis prosecutor.

"Yesterday, prosecutors in the Circuit Attorney’s Office met with members of the Attorney General’s team," said Gardner spokeswoman Susan Ryan. "The AG’s team provided information they have gathered to us, and we are reviewing the evidence. We can’t discuss any specifics at this time, as the investigation is ongoing."

The evidence also will be provided to a committee of lawmakers investigating Greitens, Hawley said.

Last week, the committee released a report that included testimony from a woman with whom Greitens had an affair. Under oath, she described to lawmakers how Greitens allegedly slapped her and coerced her into performing oral sex.

After the report came out, Hawley was among those to call for Greitens' resignation. The governor's legal defense team recently filed a motion asking for Hawley's recusal from the charity investigation; Hawley called that motion "frivolous" and said his office would respond in court.

Hawley noted that the findings he announced Tuesday went beyond his investigation's original purpose, which was "to determine whether charitable resources were used for political or personal gain." That investigation continues.

The Associated Press reported in October 2016 that Greitens' campaign had obtained in early 2015 a list of people who donated to The Mission Continues. Greitens' campaign was able to raise about $2 million from people on the list.

Charities are barred by federal law from aiding individual candidates in this way. The Mission Continues has repeatedly said that it did not give the list to Greitens and had supported Hawley's investigation.

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Greitens wanted information about donor lists to be kept confidential and tried to require as much from campaign staffers by requiring them to sign nondisclosure agreements, the News-Leader previously reported.

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Hawley, a candidate for U.S. Senate, characterized the charge as "essentially electronic theft" in describing the allegation that Greitens stole from his own charity.

Some Democrats noted that Hawley's call for haste due to the upcoming statute of limitations may be the attorney general's own fault for not investigating sooner. A spokeswoman for Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat whom Hawley and others are challenging, summed up this argument in a statement following the attorney general's press conference.

"We're glad that Hawley has come out of hiding to acknowledge the existing evidence of criminal behavior of the Governor," said McCaskill spokeswoman Meira Bernstein. "However, the sad truth is that this shows gross incompetence on the part of the Attorney General."

Bernstein questioned why Hawley's investigation and results came more than a year after the Associated Press' initial report.

"The only reason the statute of limitations is now a problem in this case is because Hawley was trying to protect his friend and large donor for as long as possible," Bernstein said, alluding to contributions Greitens made to Hawley's 2016 campaign.

A spokeswoman for Hawley's office clarified the question of jurisdiction and also shed light on the timing of the investigation in a statement.

"The Attorney General’s Office does not have criminal jurisdiction, but it does have jurisdiction over charitable activities," said Mary Compton, Hawley's press secretary. "That’s why in late February 2018, when the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported new evidence that raised the possibility that The Mission Continues itself had been involved in or aided political activities, the Attorney General’s Office opened an inquiry into the use of charitable resources."

"What was new in February 2018 was evidence that suggested The Mission Continues itself might have used or contributed resources to benefit Eric Greitens’ political activities," Compton added.

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Greitens was fined in 2017 as part of an agreement with the Missouri Ethics Commission in which he admitted improperly reporting the list as a campaign contribution. He now faces a second ethics complaint for allegedly lying about the first ethics complaint.

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Greitens is currently facing a separate class D felony charge of invasion of privacy for allegedly taking a partially nude picture of a woman without her consent. He has denied criminal wrongdoing in that case, which is being prosecuted by Gardner, a Democrat.

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Greitens' response

A public relations staffer working for Greitens provided a statement from the governor about an hour after Hawley's announcement.

"Fortunately for Josh, he’s better at press conferences than the law," Greitens said. "Anyone who has set foot in a Missouri courtroom knows these allegations are ridiculous. Josh has turned the 'evidence' he claims to have over to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner— a liberal prosecutor funded by George Soros who allegedly suborned perjury, falsified documents, and withheld evidence. We will dispense with these false allegations."

In a separate statement, an attorney for Greitens called Hawley's actions "frivolous and inappropriate."

"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," said attorney Jim Martin. "Eric built The Mission Continues from scratch, and he helped thousands of veterans by doing so. The Attorney General held a completely frivolous and inappropriate press conference on a non-issue."

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