Dems call for Greitens to resign in wake of indictment

The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) called on Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) to resign on Thursday in the wake of his indictment on charges of felony privacy invasion. 

“The charges against Eric Greitens are deeply disturbing and prove he is unfit to hold public office,” DGA Executive Director Elisabeth Pearson said in a statement. 

“Following today’s indictment, Governor Greitens should step down immediately. The people of Missouri deserve a governor who can focus full-time on the issues affecting the state,” the statement continued.

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Democrats also called on the Republican Governors Association (RGA) to “send a clear message that it does not condone” Greitens’s alleged actions and remove him from its executive committee.

The Hill has reached out to the RGA for comment. 

Greitens was indicted Thursday on charges related to allegations he threatened to release a naked photo of a woman he was having an affair with if she revealed their relationship. 

The governor was taken into custody by law enforcement and was booked at the St. Louis Justice Center. His attorney later released a statement calling the charges “baseless and unfounded.”

“My client is absolutely innocent. We will be filing a motion to dismiss,” attorney Edward Dowd Jr. said.

Missouri lawmakers have weighed in on Greitens’s future as governor. 

The state Senate’s Majority Leader Mike Kehoe (R) said he was “not prepared” to say whether Greitens should resign, while House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty (D) suggested he should step aside.

“It will be extremely difficult for the governor to effectively do his job with a felony indictment hanging over his head,” Beatty said in a statement reported by The St. Louis-Dispatch.

“While the criminal justice system must run its course, the governor needs to consider whether remaining in office under these circumstances is the right thing to do for not only himself and his family but for the people of Missouri,” she said.