McCaskill denounces report that lawmakers are being pressured not to criticize Greitens

JEFFERSON CITY — Rumblings that politicians are being pressured to not criticize Gov. Eric Greitens caught the attention of Sen. Claire McCaskill, who took to Twitter to denounce what she saw as corruption worthy of an investigation.

Missouri Scout, a private news service covering developments in state politics, recently quoted an unnamed state lawmaker as saying that financial support from big-time political contributors would be withheld from people who "go against the Governor."

McCaskill, a Democrat running for a third term, denounced this as "rampant corruption. Hope someone in law enforcement investigates."

Her spokeswoman did not respond when asked whether McCaskill had any evidence that the action the quote described was true, and the News-Leader has not been able to independently verify or debunk the claim that state lawmakers are facing financial pressure to stick with Greitens.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican running against McCaskill and Missouri's top law enforcement official, called the report "deeply troubling."

"We encourage any individual who believes he or she may have evidence of violations of the law to come forward to this Office or other law enforcement authorities," said Mary Compton, Hawley's press secretary.

Greitens is facing renewed calls for his resignation or impeachment after a legislative committee investigating the facts of his felony invasion-of-privacy case released a report last Wednesday. The report includes sworn testimony from a woman with whom Greitens had an affair who described his alleged sexual misconduct to lawmakers under oath.

Both Hawley and McCaskill have called for Greitens to resign.

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David Humphreys, a Joplin businessman who has invested millions in Missouri politics and in Greitens personally, condemned the governor's conduct last week.

"While these actions took place before his election and are otherwise arguably a private matter, the testimony reveals behavior that should not be tolerated anywhere but especially not by those holding public office," Humphreys said in a statement. "Governor Greitens should resign as these new revelations describe behavior that makes it impossible to retain confidence in his ability to govern wisely and well."

Humphreys had a similar reaction in October 2016 after the Washington Post publicized a tape of Donald Trump, now the president of the United States, making lewd comments about his own treatment of women that has been described by some as sexual assault.

"At some point, you have to look in the mirror and recognize that you cannot possibly justify support for Trump to your children — especially your daughters," Humphreys said then to the New York Times.

Humphreys and more: What do Missouri politicians say about Gov. Greitens and whether he should resign?

Other major GOP donors have been quieter about Greitens' sex scandal.

Stan Herzog, a St. Joseph businessman, gave $650,000 to Greitens in 2016 and has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to other Republicans, including $250,000 to the Missouri Republican Party in December 2016. A company with the same address as one of Herzog's businesses owns the building where Greitens' nonprofit, A New Missouri, is located.

A representative for Herzog declined to comment and said Herzog was still recovering from a February choking incident. Herzog required resuscitation after struggling to breathe during a dinner that included U.S. Rep. Sam Graves and Missouri Republican Party chairman Todd Graves, the St. Joseph News-Press reported.

Sam Cooper, the executive director for the Missouri GOP, declined to comment.

A spokesman for another big name in Missouri politics, Rex Sinquefield, distanced the conservative activist from Greitens' troubles and dismissed the notion that Sinquefield was involved with the chatter about political pressure.

"At this time, we are continuing our governing focus on growing the economy and providing educational freedoms to all," said Travis Brown, the Sinquefield spokesman.

Most lawmakers in the Springfield area — where Greitens remains relatively popular — have been quiet about the affair-related allegations against the governor, as they have about other investigations about how Greitens' office used an app that sent self-deleting messages and how the governor's campaign obtained a list of donors to the charity Greitens founded.

Rep. Kevin Austin, R-Springfield and a member of the committee investigating Greitens, said he hasn't received any such pressure from donors and wasn't aware of that happening to anyone else. He declined to comment further, citing a House resolution that bars committee members from commenting on the investigation and his own desire to avoid the appearance of prejudice.