Missouri Governor Eric Greitens, who was elected in 2016 after running bizarre ads that essentially fetishized gunfire (like the Dan Bilzerian of politicos), has already found himself in a public relations nightmare. Wednesday night saw Greitens publicly admit to cheating on his wife with a married woman who accused him of blackmailing her (with photos that he had allegedly taken after blindfolding and restraining her) during a 2015 sexual encounter.
The New York Times reported upon Greiten’s admission, which included his assessment of the affair as a “personal mistake.” He did, however, deny the woman’s claims of blackmail, despite St. Louis KMOV’s publication of audio footage from a conversation recorded by the husband of Greiten’s mistress. The woman confessed her fear over “[seeing] a flash through the blindfold,” after which Greitens allegedly threatened to publicize the images while stating, “You’re never going to mention my name.”
Following Greitens’ denial of blackmail, the allegations are growing worse. Neither the woman nor her husband have been identified, but Missouri Democratic operative Roy Temple revealed details from his conversation with the mistress’ husband, who claimed that Greitens slapped her without consent:
“Greitens invited her to the Greitens family home and into a guest bedroom. Before engaging in sex, Greitens asked if she had had sex with anyone since their last encounter. According to the account he gave me, she replied that she had had sex with her husband, at which time Greitens slapped her.”
In response, Greitens’ attorney stated that his client had a months-long consensual relationship (prior to his election as governor, although that doesn’t matter) with the mistress but that “there was never any violence.” Yet even before this additional allegation, St. Louis Public Radio host Jason Rosenbaum told CNN that he’s heard of a “serious” danger of Greitens being ousted as governor.
(Via Talking Points Memo, New York Times, KMOV & CNN)