Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens announced his resignation Tuesday amid a felony charge and the looming threat of impeachment. He had been accused of illegally trying to conceal the identities of campaign donors and blackmailing a woman he had an affair with.
Missouri's Republican-controlled legislature was working overtime in a special session to consider whether or not to impeach Greitens. Lawmakers, including those in his own party, started calling for him to step down months ago.
In January, he admitted to having an affair before he took office. But he denied accusations that he took a photo of the woman to use as "blackmail" if she spoke out about the affair. The heat turned up when he was charged with felony invasion of privacy. That charge was later dropped, but it could still be refiled.
A panel of legislators released a report in April that included testimony from the woman. She said Greitens hit her and coerced her into oral sex. Greitens fiercely denied those accusations, too.
Then in April, Greitens was charged with felony computer tampering after an allegation that he illegally obtained a donor list from a veteran's charity he started and used it to solicit contributions to his campaign.
Earlier this month, the House committee investigating the governor asked for documents related to what it thought might be an illegal attempt to conceal the identities of donors to Greitens' gubernatorial campaign. On Tuesday, a judge ruled campaign staffers and workers for a nonprofit under the governor's purview had to turn over those documents.
Greitens' resignation takes effect Friday at 5 p.m. local time. The House investigation into Greitens is likely moot now that he's resigned. The prosecutor overseeing the criminal charges said her office reached a "fair and just resolution" with the governor's attorneys, but details of that resolution won't be released until Wednesday.
