via Wikimedia Commons
A St. Louis grand jury indicted Missouri Governor Eric Greitens today on a felony charge of invasion of privacy.
Last month, Greitens admitted to an extramarital affair that took place in 2015, before he took office. The woman's ex-husband shared an audio recording (that he made without the woman's knowledge) with KMOV that accused Greitens of having photographed her in a state of undress without her permission and having threatened to release the photos if she exposed the affair.
Although Greitens admitted to the affair after it became public, he denied allegations of blackmail.
In a statement today, however, St. Louis circuit attorney Kimberly Gardner said that "the grand jury has found probable cause" to indict Greitens. According to a Missouri law enacted last year, invasion of privacy is a misdemeanor except under certain conditions. According to the indictment, Greitens allegedly "transmitted the image contained in the photograph in a manner that allowed access to that image via a computer." The indictment lists three witnesses by their initials.
"It is essential for residents of the City of St. Louis to feel confidence in their leaders," Gardner said in a statement. "They must know that the office of the circuit attorney will hold public officials accountable in the same manner as any other resident of our city."
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter tweeted that he saw the governor "being led away" by police inside Carnahan Courthouse.
The Post reported that Greitens was taken into custody and booked at the St. Louis Justice Center (which another Post reporter confirmed with the governor's mugshot, pictured below). The paper also reported that Greitens is being released on a personal recognizance bond.
According to the St. Louis Business-Journal, an attorney for Greitens, Ed Dowd Jr., said in a statement, “In forty years of public and private practice, I have never seen anything like this. The charges against my client are baseless and unfounded. My client is absolutely innocent. We will be filing a motion to dismiss.”
