Giacomo Bologna and Will Schmitt | Springfield News-Leader

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Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens announced his resignation Tuesday afternoon, leaving behind a brief and tumultuous legacy and moving on from his first public office with the continued prospect of criminal prosecution related to his 2016 campaign.

“I know, and people of good faith know, that I am not perfect, but I have not broken any laws nor committed any offense worthy of this treatment," Greitens said. "I will let the fairness of this process be judged by history.”

Greitens said his last day in office will be Friday. He said he is proud of what has been accomplished during his tenure, but it was time to resign.

“This ordeal has been designed to cause an incredible amount of strain on my family, Greitens said. "Millions of dollars in mounting legal bills, endless personal attacks, designed to cause maximum damage to family and friends.”

Lt. Gov Mike Parson is next in line

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Eric Greitens steps down as Missouri governor amid scandals

The state constitution lays out an order of succession in which Lt. Gov. Mike Parson, who was elected separately, will take over for his fellow Republican.

Parson is expected to be sworn in to serve the remainder of Greitens' four-year term.

Parson released the following statement regarding Greitens’ resignation:

“With Governor Greitens’ decision to resign from office, he has put the best interests of our state and all Missourians at the forefront where they belong. This is a decision that will allow our state to heal and move forward from what has been a difficult time. This is an enormous responsibility serving as our state’s next governor, and I am ready to fulfill the duties of the office with honor and integrity, and with a steadfast commitment to making our great state even greater for the people we are entrusted to serve.”

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Greitens was mostly stoic during his announcement. He did not take questions. At one point, he appeared to choke up.

Jeff Roberson, AP

"A great deal of work is left undone. The time has come, though, to tend to those that have been wounded," Greitens said. "And to care for those who need us most."

Greitens made no mention of his service as a Navy SEAL, something he frequently includes in speeches and statements. However, Greitens did refer to himself as a "fighter" and that it was time to "walk off the battlefield."

State lawmakers had convened in a special session to hear evidence about Greitens in a process that could have led to his impeachment.

A Cole County judge ruled against Greitens on Tuesday by allowing subpoenas issued by lawmakers investigating the governor to go forward. The legislative investigation had requested numerous documents from Greitens' political campaign and from A New Missouri, Inc., the secretive nonprofit formed by his campaign aides to advocate for his agenda.

Will Schmitt/News-Leader

Greitens was charged with felony invasion of privacy in February, but that charge has been dropped, with a chance it could be re-filed. A second felony charge of computer tampering is still pending.

Greitens ran as a political outsider with promises to clean up corruption, prevent tax hikes and enact a ban on mandatory union dues.

After the second felony charge was announced in April, leading GOP officials — including Attorney General Josh Hawley, Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard and House Speaker Todd Richardson — called for Greitens to step down.

Greitens had refused to leave even as he faced the prospect of becoming the first governor in Missouri’s history to be impeached.

Greitens had faced twin specters of unrelated scandal since early January.

First, on Jan. 10, he admitted to the world that he had an extramarital affair and denied associated claims that he blackmailed his mistress by allegedly photographing her in a compromising position and threatening to disseminate the image.

Second, Greitens had denied claims raised by Hawley that Greitens allegedly oversaw the theft of donor data from The Mission Continues, a pro-veterans charity Greitens founded prior to running for office. Greitens also was accused by lawmakers of lying to the Missouri Ethics Commission about how his campaign obtained the donor information.

Hawley responds to resignation news

Hawley, a Republican running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, has been criticized from the left for being too slow to investigate Greitens and had been tied to the embattled governor in political ads recently.

Though Greitens’ resignation may remove an albatross from the attorney general’s neck, Hawley’s statement did not dance on the governor’s political grave.

“Governor Greitens has done the right thing today,” Hawley said. “I wish incoming Governor Mike Parson well, and stand ready to assist him in his transition. This Office’s work for the people of Missouri goes forward.”

Gregg Keller, a GOP strategist who has advocated for Greitens to leave office, said the resignation cleared the way for Republicans hoping to unseat McCaskill.

“With Eric Greitens’ myriad legal, ethical and personal problems now behind us, Josh Hawley is again the frontrunner for Senate, with a very good opportunity to defeat a highly vulnerable Claire McCaskill and keep the U.S. Senate in Republican hands,” Keller said.

Hawley and Greitens both were seen as rising Republican stars before the governor’s scandals erupted, then evolved.

Greitens had close ties to Vice President Mike Pence — Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, was a senior Greitens campaign aide — and Hawley has taken up the GOP establishment’s mantle in the Senate race, in which he leads his fellow conservatives in fundraising.

But as Greitens’ political toxicity grew, Hawley changed his tone.

The attorney general investigated Greitens’ office for its use of Confide, a texting app that sends self-destructing messages. Hawley’s investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by Greitens and senior staff, several of whom admitted to using their state-issued devices to discuss matters related to government.

Democrats, including McCaskill, criticized Hawley’s process. The attorney general’s office never asked to interview Greitens himself about Confide, and Hawley’s investigators allowed an attorney for Greitens to be present for at least some of the interviews of Greitens’ senior staff.

In April, Hawley was tougher. After investigating how Greitens' campaign obtained donor data from the charity Greitens founded, Hawley said there was probable cause to pursue a felony charge of computer tampering against Greitens and referred those charges to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner.

Hawley described the alleged criminal wrongdoing as “certainly impeachable” offenses, raising the prospect that Greitens could be removed from office involuntarily. Later, lawmakers voted themselves into a special session to consider just that.

Hawley also decided against attending the Greene County GOP’s Lincoln Day celebration earlier this year, at which Greitens appeared and spoke. A spokeswoman said it would have been inappropriate for Hawley to appear with Greitens at the campaign-style function.

Signature legislation could be overturned

Signing “right-to-work” legislation in February 2017 was among Greitens' biggest policy victories during his abbreviated tenure. The governor ceremonially signed the law in a Springfield warehouse that was said to be a symbol of the turnaround to come; however, the building’s owner told the News-Leader that lack of a “right-to-work” law had nothing to do with the business’s shuttering.

Labor organizations and their supporters stalled the law, which would ban mandatory union dues, by collecting enough signatures to put the Republican-backed law to a vote of the people.

In a strategic move, GOP lawmakers passed a resolution for Greitens to sign that moved the vote on “right-to-work” from November to August, when turnout is lower and tends to be more conservative. The ballot maneuver could have implications on Missouri’s tightly contested Senate race.

Springfield's mayor on Greitens' resignation

Springfield Mayor Ken McClure reacted to news of Greitens’ resignation by extending his “best wishes” to Parson.

“I am very optimistic about what I am sure will be our state’s continued growth and vitality under Governor Parson’s leadership. On behalf of the City of Springfield, I pledge the City’s full support to Governor Parson and his administration,” McClure said in a city news release.

McClure has worked with Parson in a variety of capacities over the past 13 years, the release said, starting from when Parson served in the state House and Senate.