Senate, House call special session to possibly impeach Greitens

Gov. Eric Greitens will be at the center of a planned special session.

The Missouri Senate and House of Representatives are making history as they consider impeaching Gov. Eric Greitens over allegations of stealing a donor list and invading the privacy of a woman he had an affair with before he was governor.

The legislative bodies gathered enough signatures to force a special session starting May 18, according to a Senate news release. The decision marks the first time the state’s General Assembly has convened a special session, action typically taken by Missouri’s governor, according to House Speaker Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff.

Sen. Ron Richard, R-Joplin, said legislators are taking the possible impeachment proceedings seriously.

“The process has monumental consequences, and the gravity of what we are commencing is not taken lightly,” Richard said in the release. “I believe we should give the House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight more time so they can continue their investigation and make sure they have all the facts. The House and Senate both have different roles in this process; however, the Senate stands ready to do our constitutional duty if it becomes necessary.”

The House committee on Wednesday released a new 23-page report on Greitens related to allegations he took a donor list from a private charity — one he founded called The Mission Continues — in an effort to raise campaign funds for his gubernatorial bid. The report, which cites documents and testimony from six of Greitens' former employees, found evidence Greitens allegedly lied about the donor list to the state’s ethics commission.

Greitens — who separately faces allegations of felony invasion of privacy related to an extramarital affair before he was governor — has been asked to resign from members of both parties, or face possible impeachment.