Out in Missouri, Governor Eric Greitens is hanging onto his identity as a rising political star by his fingernails, which is becoming increasingly difficult because, as the NYT reports, prosecutors keep hanging new felony charges around his ankles.

On Tuesday, the state attorney general plunged the governor even more deeply into political and legal jeopardy, saying Mr. Greitens may have committed a felony in using a charity’s donor list for political fund-raising. Josh Hawley, the Republican attorney general of Missouri, said his office had evidence that Mr. Greitens had illegally obtained a donor list from The Mission Continues, a veterans charity the governor founded.

“He did all of this without the permission of The Mission Continues,” Mr. Hawley said at a news conference in Jefferson City, Mo. “If proven, these acts could amount to the unauthorized taking and use of property.” But Mr. Hawley stopped short of filing charges against the governor, who is also a Republican, saying that his office does not have jurisdiction to do so. Instead, he referred the matter to Kimberly Gardner, the St. Louis circuit attorney, who could decide to file charges against Mr. Greitens.

“Fortunately for Josh, he’s better at press conferences than the law,” the governor said in a statement. “Anyone who has set foot in a Missouri courtroom knows these allegations are ridiculous.”

Well, OK, then.

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It has to be noted here that both Greitens and Hawley are ambitious young Republicans with an implacable Sauron’s eye for the main chance. It is safe to say that they don’t get along. Hawley has announced his intention to run against incumbent Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, who is considered among the most vulnerable senators her party has. However, there seems to be no question that Hawley’s campaign would be infinitely better off if Greitens were not hanging around the Republican ticket’s neck like a dead raccoon. Hence, it is thought, Hawley is committing GOP-on-GOP crime in order to enhance his own prospects.

In this, Hawley is at the moment on the right side of Republican politics. The push to spare the state and the party the ongoing spectacle that is Eric Greitens’s baroque legal problems is very much a general and bipartisan effort, but the Republicans are the ones who have sharpened their blades to the brightest shine. Right on cue, Missouri Republicans jumped on Hawley’s latest charges with conspicuous glee. From The Springfield News-Leader:

Several hours after Hawley's press conference, House Speaker Todd Richardson, Speaker Pro Tem Elijah Haahr and Majority Floor Leader Rob Vescovo called for Greitens to resign in a joint statement. "At the outset of this process, we said the governor needed to be forthright and accountable for his actions. After thoughtful consideration of the findings in the House committee’s report and today’s news that the Attorney General has evidence to support another felony charge, we believe the governor needs to take responsibility for his actions," the statement said. "Leaders at all levels of government are entrusted with an incredible responsibility to the Missourians we represent. When leaders lose the ability to effectively lead our state, the right thing to do is step aside. In our view, the time has come for the governor to resign."

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The leading Senate Republican, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, also said it was time for Greitens to go. "We have reached a critical turning point in the allegations made against the governor," said Richard. "The decisions made going forward will have a significant effect on the state of Missouri. After speaking with the attorney general today, I believe the governor has no other respectable option than to resign from office."

Greitens, whose problems arose from a messy alleged sexual misconduct scandal that also involves alleged blackmail, insists he’s staying in office, and he’s largely pulled up the drawbridge and taken to the ramparts of the electric Twitter machine.

I will not be resigning the Governor's office. In three weeks, this matter will go to a court of law—where it belongs and where the facts will prove my innocence. Until then, I will do what the people of Missouri sent me here to do: to serve them and work hard on their behalf.

So to win a winnable Senate seat, Missouri Republicans may have to resort to outright cannibalism. Claire McCaskill remains the luckiest politician in America.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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