Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) on Wednesday admitted to an extramarital affair, The Washington Post reported, amid allegations that he threatened to release a naked photo of a woman if she revealed their relationship.
In a statement released Wednesday, Greitens and his wife said “a few years ago … there was a time when he was unfaithful in our marriage.”
{mosads}“This was a deeply personal mistake. Eric took responsibility, and we dealt with this together honestly and privately,” the joint statement said, according to the Post.
According to the Post, a local TV station played audio allegedly recorded by the woman’s ex-husband in which she discussed going to Greitens’s house in 2015, where she said he bound her to a piece of exercise equipment and blindfolded her.
She added that he then took photos without her consent.
“You’re never going to mention my name, otherwise this picture will be everywhere,” Greitens told the woman, she claims on the audio, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Greitens’ attorney said there was no “blackmail.”
“And that claim is false,” attorney James Bennett said.
“The outrageous claims of improper contact regarding these almost three-year-ago events are a lie.”
Greitens, who was elected as governor in 2016, ran for the office on being a family man, touting during his campaign that he was “a Navy SEAL, native Missourian and most importantly, a proud husband and father.”