The governor of Missouri, Eric Greitens, initiated a physically aggressive unwanted sexual encounter with his hairdresser and threatened to distribute a partially nude photo of her if she spoke about it, according to testimony from the woman released Wednesday.

A graphic report, by a state house of representatives investigatory committee, details multiple instances in which, the woman said, Greitens spanked, slapped, grabbed, shoved and called her derogatory names during a series of sexual encounters as he was preparing to run for office in 2015. The testimony contradicts Greitens’ previous assertions that “there was no violence” and “no threat of violence” in what he has described as a consensual extramarital affair.

The report, signed by all five Republicans and two Democrats on the committee, describes the woman’s testimony as credible and notes that Greitens has so far declined to testify or provide documents to the panel. It also outlines instances where the Republican governor’s public comments appear to run counter to some of her allegations.

Flanked by other top Republican legislative leaders, the state’s house speaker, Todd Richardson, announced that the special committee would expand its mission and make recommendations after the 18 May end of the regular legislative session on whether to pursue impeachment proceedings. Democrats called for the house to impeach Greitens if he did not quit; the US senator Claire McCaskill called for him to resign.

The special house investigation was initiated shortly after Greitens was indicted in February on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge for taking a nonconsensual photo of the partially nude woman and transmitting it in a way that could be accessed by a computer. The woman told the committee that Greitens took the photo after manipulating her into a compromising position during an unwanted sexual encounter and that he told her “everyone will know what a little whore you are” if she told anyone about him.

Greitens, 44, has refused to directly answer media questions about whether he took the photo but he has steadfastly denied any criminal wrongdoing. He said he expected to be proven innocent during this trial, which is scheduled for 14 May.

Speaking shortly before the report was released, Greitens told reporters gathered at the Capitol that he expected it to contain “lies and falsehoods” and reaffirmed his commitment to remaining in office.

“This is a political witch-hunt,” Greitens said, later adding: “This is exactly like what’s happening with the witch-hunts in Washington DC.”

According to the report, the woman testified that she met Greitens in 2013 when he was a customer of her hair salon. She said she had a crush on Greitens but was shocked when he ran his hand up her leg and touched her crotch without her consent during a March 2015 hair appointment. He later invited her to his St Louis home while his wife was out of town.



After she arrived through the back door, the report said that the woman testified Greitens searched her purse and “patted her down from head-to-toe”. He then asked if she had exercised and had her change into a white T-shirt with a slit on the top and pajama pants.

“I thought, oh, this is going to be some sort of sexy workout,” the woman testified.

But once in his basement, Greitens taped her hands to pull-up rings, blindfolded her, started kissing her, ripped open the shirt and pulled down her pants, the woman testified. She didn’t give consent to be disrobed or kissed, the report said. The woman testified that she then heard a click, like that of a picture being taken on a phone, and saw a flash.

The woman testified that Greitens told her: “Don’t even mention my name to anybody at all, because if you do, I’m going to take these pictures, and I’m going to put them everywhere I can ... and then everyone will know what a little whore you are.”

Eric Greitens and his wife, Sheena, speak to the media in St Louis. Photograph: Jeff Roberson/AP

When she remained silent, the woman said, Greitens “spanked me and said, ‘Are you going to mention my name?’ And I said, I just gritted through my teeth, and I said, ‘No.’ And he’s like, ‘Good, now that’s a good girl.’

“I was definitely fearful,” the woman testified to the legislative committee.

After telling Greitens, “I don’t want this”, the woman testified, Greitens unbound her hands. She said she started “uncontrollably crying”. She said Greitens then grabbed her in a hug and laid her down. She said he put his penis near her face and she gave him oral sex. Asked by the committee whether the oral sex was coerced, she responded: “Coerced, maybe. I felt as though that would allow me to leave.”

The House committee report said it doesn’t possess any evidence of the photo.

The woman testified that she had several additional sexual encounters with Greitens, including one in June 2015 when “he slapped me across my face”.

The woman’s account contradicts statements Greitens made previously. Asked in a January interview with the Associated Press if he had ever slapped the woman, Greitens responded: “Absolutely not.”

Greitens, a Rhodes Scholar and former navy Seal officer, first acknowledged having an extramarital affair on 10 January.

In addition to the legislative investigation and the criminal case, the state’s Republican attorney general, Josh Hawley, is investigating The Mission Continues, the veterans’ charity founded by Greitens, as it relates to the state’s consumer protection and charitable registration and reporting laws.