The ex-wife of Eric GreitensA former Missouri governor and current Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, he alleged that he was physically abusive and “unstable,” according to court records filed Monday.
Sheena Greitens has been part of an ongoing custody battle with Eric Greitens and filed an affidavit on Monday accusing the former governor of abusing her and her children.
“Before our divorce, during a discussion at the end of April 2018, Eric knocked me over and confiscated my mobile phone, wallet and keys so that I could not ask for help or take our children and me even from our home, “the affidavit said. he says. “In early June 2018, I was afraid for my safety and that of our children in our home, which was quite isolated, due to Eric’s unstable and coercive behavior. This behavior included physical violence towards our children, like stabbing our three-year-old son in the face during dinner in front of me and grabbing him by the hair. “
Their divorce ended in May 2020, and a county court ruling said the marriage was “hopelessly broken” and that a joint parenting plan “is underway.” [the] in the best interests of the younger children. “However, Eric Greitens now says he wants full custody of the two children.
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Sheena Greitens has asked that the jurisdiction of the case be moved to Travis County Court in Texas because she said her children have spent most of the time in recent years in Austin and said she fears Eric Greitens will use the his platform as a candidate for the Senate. in Missouri to attack her, according to the affidavit. She accepted a position as an associate professor at the University of Texas in 2020.
In a statementEric Greitens criticized his ex-wife’s accusations and said that “ultimately, the truth will always prevail.”
“I will continue to love and care for my beautiful children with all my being, and that includes fighting for the truth and against completely fabricated and baseless accusations,” Greitens said. “I am looking for full custody of my children and for their sake I will continue to pray for their mother and I hope she receives the help she needs.”
Greitens’ campaign said in a statement that the affidavit was part of a “politically motivated attack.”
“His children deserve a father who speaks the truth and opposes malicious attacks that are clearly politically motivated. This attack is nothing more than a sad attempt to force a father to cede custody of his children to a person upset “, the campaign. dit.
Greitens was once seen as a rising star in the party and had served for just over a year as governor of Missouri before him. resigned in 2018 after allegations of sexual misconduct and blackmail for allegedly taking a picture of her former hairdresser with whom she had a relationship, as well as an ethics investigation and a criminal charge for manipulating computer data.
The woman told a Missouri House special committee that she believed Greitens had photographed her naked without her consent before he was elected governor and threatened to blackmail the woman if she talked about the matter. Eric Greitens admitted the affair and called it consensual, but denied taking the picture and accusing him of blackmail. No photos were found on your mobile. Prosecutors left a charge for invasion of privacy related to the alleged May 2018 incident.
Also in 2018, the St. Louis circuit lawyer. Louis Kim Gardner charged Greitens with the manipulation of computer data due to an accusation that he used a list of donors from a charity he founded for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign. That charge was dropped in May 2018.
The ethical investigation ended in 2020, and concluded that while Greitens is responsible for the mistakes of his campaign for not reporting two major campaign donations, the investigation found “no evidence of any crime by Eric Greitens, individually. ” Greitens announced that he would run in the Senate in March 2021.
In her affidavit, Sheena Greitens alleged that “Eric’s behavior also included threats to coerce me into doing or refraining from saying or doing certain things.”
“After Eric admitted to me in late January 2021 that he had taken the photo that resulted in the accusation of invasion of privacy, he threatened that he would be exposed to legal danger if he never revealed that fact to anyone, even family members or a therapist, ”says the affidavit.
Sheena Greteins’ affidavit also alleged that during the summer of 2018, “Eric repeatedly threatened to commit suicide unless he provided specific public support.” She and others tried to limit Eric’s access to firearms “at least three different times” in 2018. After Eric Greitens allegedly refused to disclose the location of the weapon in June 2018, Sheena he told the affidavit that he “started sleeping.” in my children’s room just to try to protect them. “
The affidavit also says Eric Greitens threatened to charge Sheena with child abuse if she did not delete emails sent to her therapist about Eric’s behavior. He also says Eric called her “hateful, disgusting, nasty vicious” and a “lying drop” while accusing her of providing information to prosecutors investigating her and St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Following that call, Sheena Greitens said she tried to take her children to her parents’ home “for continued fear for our safety.”
“When I told Eric about my plans, he threatened to come to the airport and arrest me for kidnapping and child abuse, saying that because of his authority as a former governor who had supported law enforcement, the police would support him and he would not believe me, and he would lose our children, “the affidavit alleges.
Sheena Greitens also said that in November 2019, her son Joshua returned from a visit with Eric “with a swollen face, bleeding gums and a loose tooth.” Joshua “said his father had beaten him” while Eric “said they were mistreating him and that it had been an accident,” according to the affidavit. The tooth was surgically removed in May 2020.
“Missouri court rules governing the conduct of divorced parties provide a strong incentive for spouses to timely disclose to the court any real, fact-based concerns about issues such as allegations contained in the unsolicited affidavit. from the mother at the first opportunity. before a divorce decree is introduced, “Eric Greitens’ attorney, Gary Stamper, said in an emailed statement to CBS News.
“A neutral observer might conclude that the mother ‘s admitted silence through the common discord in failed marriages., while simultaneously devising an advantageous strategy to evade a pre-agreed court order, it suggests that its motivation may be less than honorable, ”he added. confirms Mark Twain’s wisdom: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth sheds its skin.” The only public that matters now is the judge who approved the agreement of the parties and has the power to change it. “
Following the news of the affidavit, Stamper filed a request to seal the records and proceedings of the case, alleging that the documents would cause “irreparable damage” to Greitens’ reputation and that his “interest in to protect their reputation and position in the community in the face of this. Inflammatory allegations outweigh the public’s interest in opening state and county records. ” In this motion, Stamper denied the truth of the allegations made in Sheena Greitens’ affidavit.
Eric Greitens is part of a group full of Republicans seeking to succeed retiring Republican Senator Roy Blunt. Also present are Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Representatives Billy Long and Vicky Hartzler, and Mark McCloskey, a St. Louis Injury Attorney. best known for firing guns on protesters near his home in the summer of 2020.
A Republican-leaning Trafalgar Group poll in late February showed that Greitens was leading the GOP primary camp. Some Republicans have expressed concern that if Greitens wins the GOP nomination, it could make the seat more competitive in a Republican state than it might otherwise be. Former President Donald Trump won the state by more than 15 points in 2020.
Hartzler called for Eric Greitens to step down for the U.S. Senate and “seek immediate professional help,” according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Schmitt, Llarg and Lucas Kunce, a Navy candidate and Democrat in the race, also called for Greitens to step down.
“He’s not fit to serve,” Kunce said. “I agree with Vicky Hartzler that she should leave the race immediately.”
“The behavior described in this affidavit is a reason for Eric Greitens to be in jail, not to vote for the U.S. Senate. He should end his campaign immediately,” Schmitt tweeted.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who has backed Hartzler, also made an appeal Greitens leaves the race.
Missouri primaries are scheduled for August 2. The deadline for candidates to run in the primaries is March 29, 2022.
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