Within the last hour or so, reports have come out that the invasion of privacy/blackmail charges against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has been dropped by St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner just a couple of days before the trial for his blackmail charge was supposed to begin.
However, he is far from out of the woods on this, as the charge could still berefiled by a special prosecutor. He also has another felony to be tried on in court in The Mission Continues saga involving computer tampering and could still face impeachment from the House and Senate as a result of this and other shenanigans he’s done.
Robert Patrick at St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
ST. LOUIS • Prosecutors dismissed a criminal charge against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and will be seeking a special prosecutor to refile the charge after the judge ruled that his lawyers could call Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner as a witness.
The prosecutors announced they were dropping the charge about 4:40 p.m. Monday.
The move follows several secret filings in the case over the last several days.
A spokeswoman for Gardner said the case would be refiled. Gardner left the courtroom just before 5 p.m. She did not answer questions.
Circuit Judge Rex Burlison's "unprecedented" order "places the Circuit Attorney in the impossible position of being a witness, subject to cross-examination within the offer of proof by her own subordinates," Gardner spokeswoman Susan Ryan said in a statement.
Rachel Lippman, Jason Rosenbaum, and Brian Heffernan at St. Louis Public Radio:
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office has dropped the felony invasion of privacy charge against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.
The office plans to refile the charge with a request for a special prosecutor.
Sarah Fenske at Riverfront Times:
Prosecutors dropped a bombshell this afternoon after three days of jury selection in the invasion of privacy case against Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, dismissing charges just days before it was set to go to trial.
The announcement was made just before 5 p.m. after prosecutors and defense attorneys met in the chambers of Judge Rex Burlison. Prosecutors say they now intend to hire a special prosecutor.
The decision apparently follows a series of motions filed under seal, made by defense attorneys seeking to call Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner as a witness.In a statement, Gardner acknowledged that Judge Burlison had recently granted the request — necessitating her office's decision to drop the case.
Greitens had been charged with allegedly blackmailing a woman with whom he was having an affair by taking a semi-naked picture of her and threatening to release it.
He faces another charge, also brought by Gardner’s office, of felony computer tampering. He is accused of illegally obtaining a donor list from a veterans charity he founded and using it to fundraise for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign.
KMOV's Alexis Zotos:
AM Joy regular Sarah Kendzior: