Missouri governor faces felony charge in nude photo scandal

A grand jury on Thursday indicted Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, on a felony invasion of privacy charge for allegedly blackmailing his former mistress with nude photographs. Greitens won election in 2016 and admitted to the affair last month, but he denies accusations he threatened the woman to stay silent using photographs he took without her consent. The affair took place in March 2015 before Greitens became governor. “As I have said before, I made a personal mistake before I was governor. I did not commit a crime,” Greitens wrote in a Facebook post. “The people of Missouri deserve better than a reckless liberal prosecutor who uses her office to score political points. I look forward to the legal remedies to reverse this action.” Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, a Democrat, announced Greitens’ indictment Thursday. The governor’s lawyer immediately filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, noting the affair was consensual. Greitens intended to travel to Washington, D.C., this weekend for an annual meeting with other state governors. But according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he now plans to stay home. Greitens will return to court March 16. Meanwhile, Missouri Republicans tasked a group of state legislators to investigate the charges against Greitens and determine whether the governor should keep his job.