Missouri governor charged with felony related to improperly obtained donor list

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) was charged with a felony on Friday for using an improperly obtained list of donors from his charity during his 2016 campaign, according to the Associated Press.

Greitens was charged by St. Louis prosecutors on Friday for using a donor list from his charity, The Mission Continues, without the group’s knowledge.

He already paid a fine to the state Ethics Commission because he failed to initially report the list as a campaign contribution.

The felony charge of tampering with computer data adds to a previous charge against Greitens for taking and sharing without consent a photo of a nude woman he was having an extramarital affair with in 2015.

Greitens has been facing calls to resign after allegations of sexual misconduct. He has denied any wrongdoing and has so far resisted calls to step down.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced on Tuesday that his office had uncovered evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Greitens related to his use of The Mission Continues’ email list, but said the decision of whether to charge Greitens would have to be made by the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office.

Hawley said at the time that prosecutors would have to act quickly because the statute of limitations was fast approaching.

The AP reported in October 2016 that Greitens’ campaign had used a list of donors to The Mission Continues to raise nearly $2 million. The Missouri governor initially denied that his campaign had used the donor list, but later agreed to pay a $100 fine for failing to report that his campaign had obtained the list.

 

Updated at 7:32 p.m.