State Senate District 18 Candidates Respond to Indictment of Governor Eric Greitens

In an email sent out on Thursday February 22nd to the candidate running for the District 18 State Senate Seat, I asked them to respond to the recent felony indictment by a Grand Jury of Governor Eric Greitens - an indictment on the grounds of "Invasion of Privacy" surrounding the affair that broke the news in January with the Governor and a local hairdresser (claims of Greitens taking a nude photo of the woman and threatening to release it if anything were said).

I asked the Senate Candidates where they stand on this news and the ordeal in general. In on online message on messenger, I asked all of the candidates to respond within 72 hours of receiving the message. All candidates read the message and were well aware of what I was asking from them. State Representatives Nate Walker and Lindell Shumake were the only ones that reached back to me and provided answers to the questions I asked. Businesswoman Cindy O'Laughlin and State Representative Craig Redmon were the only two that did not reach out at all. Walker, Shumake, O'Laughlin, and Redmon will be facing off in August to be the Republican Candidate for the State Senate Seat from District 18.

Lindell Shumak, a current State Representative stated the following:

"I am not calling upon the Governor to resign at this time. I am waiting for the process to play out. There are a number of reasons why I am taking this position.

It seems to me that those who are pursuing the charges are people other than those directly involved. Ordinarily, the charge of Invasion of Privacy is a Class A Misdemeanor, but it can become a Class D felony if an image is transmitted via a computer. The Grand Jury, the judge and the attorneys know the complete set of circumstances at this point. The alleged incident occurred at or around March 21, 2015, before the Governor was known even to be a candidate for Governor. I also find it curious that the Statute of Limitations for this offense is 3 years and by around March 21 or 22, 2018 he could no longer be charged.

I believe that public servants should live up to the highest standards in both their private and public lives. The Governor's side of the story is that this was dealt with as a family matter three years ago and has been reconciled. For these reasons, I am still in the wait and see category."

Nate Walker, a current State Representative stated the following:

"The felony indictment of Missouri Governor Eric Greteins is sad, troubling and very disturbing for all Missourians. Almost four weeks ago, I called for Governor Greiteins to resign, to step down as Governor. He chose to not resign at that time; I again encourage him to resign. The serious allegations that have now lead to a felony indictment are troubling, they continue to be a distraction of the Governors ability to lead effectively. By his own actions, Governor Greitens has disgraced the trust of the position of Governor and should resign. Immediately following the felony indictment of Governor Greteins this week on Thursday (2/22/2018) I called upon Missouri House of Representative Speaker Todd Richardson and House leadership to start an independent, fair, non-partisan investigation of all of the alleged felony and any other possible impending charges and concerns surrounding the felony indictment of Governor Greitens. Speaker Richardson and my House colleagues have a constitutional and ethic duty to provide for ethical integrity at all levels of governance for the State of Missouri. I will continue to cooperate and support all judicial and legislative process of the various investigations concerning Governor Greitens including that of the Circuit Attorney of St. Louis, the Missouri House of Representatives and all other investigations surrounding the felony indictment of Governor Greitens. This investigation should be about finding the truth of all forms of illegal activity and corruption regardless of partisan politics. No one should ever be above the law regardless of title or privilege. I will continue to pray for Governor Greitens, his family, my colleagues in the Missouri General Assembly for use of the appropriate discernment and for all the citizens of Missouri. These are very troubling times for our great State of Missouri. I always try to govern myself with the contention that nothing is politically right that is morally wrong."

Representative Walker in an interview with Central MO Info, stated that the indictment has become too much of a distraction for the State Government. Mr. Walker also has been in several New York Times articles about this. In several articles he has stated, "I don't think this is a witch hunt by any means. I think we've got a governor who is corrupt or has done things that are illegal. And if you get a felony indictment against you, that's pretty serious."

A growing group of Republicans in the State Capitol are calling for the resignation of the Governor. The State Republican Party also released a statement claiming that this is a "political hit job" pointing fingers to billionaire George Soros after Kim Gardner (St. Louis Circuit Attorney) allegedly received 200,000 dollars for her campaign several years ago from groups connected to Soros. The State Republican Party went on to say, "We look forward to a bipartisan committee of legislators elected by people across Missouri to find out what's really going on - ensuring St. Louis Liberals aren't controlling the future of our state."

**Pictured is the mug shot of Missouri Governor Eric Greitens after being booked at a Justice Center in St. Louis - credit Fox News