Eric Greitens
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, once considered a possible GOP presidential candidate, resigned today amid a sex scandal and multiple investigations, according to an Associated Press report filed at 4:30 p.m.The resignation hits close to home here at Legal Schnauzer because Greitens appointed Greene County Associate Circuit Judge Jerry A. Harmison Jr., who is overseeing the bogus "assault on a law enforcement officer" case against my wife, Carol. Greene County sheriff's deputies brutalized Carol during an unlawful eviction in September 2015 and left her with a comminuted fracture of the left arm, requiring trauma surgery and months of physical therapy. She is expected to regain, at most, 80 percent usage of that arm.
We've uncovered evidence that Harmison knew he was going to be appointed shortly after Greitens' election and took steps to ensure the judgeship would be his. In other words, Harmison is a political hack, and his prime supporter now is a fallen political embarrassment.
Jim Arnott, the sheriff who caused the charges to be brought against Carol, also has been tied to Greitens and claimed to be a supporter before the governor's election in November 2016. Arnott stood about five feet away and watched an officer slam Carol butt-first to the ground and then yank on her arms in an upward and backward motion, causing severe bruising on her right arm and breaking her left arm.
Arnott's response to such police violence? His immediate inclination was to lie. He pointed at Carol and said, "She assaulted a law enforcement officer," and then apparently ensured (with the help of prosecutor Dan Patterson) that a "cover charge" was brought to help cover up gross civil-rights violations.
Arnott and Harmison, both Republicans, appear to be politically aligned, and we have seen signs that there is not an ounce of integrity between them. We have obtained substantial evidence in recent days that Harmison has acted in a wildly unlawful and corrupt fashion on Carol's case.
Jerry Harmison Jr.
In essence, we've seen signs that Harmison is every bit as corrupt as the sleazy governor who appointed him. This is from the AP report on Greitens' resignation:Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has resigned amid criminal and legislative investigations stemming from an extramarital affair and campaign finance questions.
The 44-year-old Rhodes Scholar and ex-Navy SEAL made the announcement Tuesday. The resignation takes effect Friday.
A St. Louis grand jury indicted Greitens on Feb. 22 on one felony count of invasion of privacy. The charge was dismissed during jury selection, but a special prosecutor was considering whether to refile charges. Prosecutors say he took a compromising photo of a woman with whom he had an affair without her consent in 2015, before his election.The woman told a legislative committee Greitens restrained, slapped, shoved and threatened her during sexual encounters.
The Missouri Legislature began meeting in special session less than two weeks ago to consider impeachment.
The Kansas City Stae reports that Greitens' problems go way beyond an admitted extramarital affair with his hair stylist:
Along the way, Greitens was accused of using a self-destructing text message app called Confide to circumvent the state's open records laws.
He was accused by former campaign staff of exploring the idea of raising money from foreign donors, which would violate a federal law that prohibits campaigns from knowingly accepted money from foreign nationals.
He was accused of using shell companies to filter donations to his campaign to hide the source of the money.
Most recently, he was accused of using his political nonprofit, A New Missouri Inc., to illegally circumvent the state's campaign disclosure laws.
How was Harmison so certain that Greitens would appoint him as judge, even before Greitens took office? We don't have a clear-cut answer to that question yet, but much of the governor's problems stem from efforts to procure and hide campaign donations.
If it proves Harmison was involved in donation issues, a most unwelcome spotlight might wind up shining on a most crooked judge.
