April 12 (UPI) — A Missouri state House committee published a report Wednesday that includes testimony from a woman who says Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens threatened to release a nude photo of her if she didn’t have sex with him.
Greitens is already facing felony charges for invasion of privacy when he allegedly transmitted a nude photo of the woman, which he took without her consent during their affair in 2015. And the state House committee report has increased the possibility that impeachment proceedings will begin against the governor.
According to the report, the woman, who has not been named, said she and Greitens met at a hair salon she worked at and he was a regular customer for two years before their first sexual encounter. The woman said that encounter occurred when he invited her to his house when his wife was out of town to talk and convinced her to do a workout with him.
“I thought this was going to be some sort of, like, sexy workout,” woman said in the report.
Greitens had her change into workout clothes and led her to the basement, where he tied her wrists to pull-up rings, blindfolded her and spit into her mouth without her consent.
“[H]e said, First, before we start a workout, you have to be hydrated and puts water in his mouth and tries to spit it in my mouth, at which point I realized he’s trying to kiss me, but I don’t even want to kiss him,” the woman said. “So I just spit it out. He does it and he’s like, You’re not going to be a bad girl, are you? Tries to do it again, to which I just let it dribble out, because I didn’t even want to kiss him.”
The woman said Greitens started kissing her body, tore open her t-shirt and pulled down her pants — also without her consent.
“[T]hen I hear him kind of, like, step back — take a step back and I hear — I can hear like a, like a cell phone — like a picture, and I can see a flash through the blindfold,” the woman said.
The report noted that the woman never saw the photo and the state House committee does not possess any physical or electronic evidence of a photograph or its transmission.”
But after allegedly taking photos of her, the woman said Greitens threatened to release them if she talked about her relationship with him.
“You’re not going to mention my name,” Greitens said, according to the woman. “Don’t even mention my name to anybody at all, because if you do, I’m going to take these pictures, and I’m going to put them everywhere I can. They are going to be everywhere, and then everyone will know what a little whore you are.”
The woman said Greitens spanked her to make her agree not to mention his name.
“I was definitely fearful,” the woman said. “I was so embarrassed and ashamed, because I really felt like a whore because I had let him get me in this position before we’ve even kissed. I felt really used.”
The woman said she tried to leave and was “uncontrollably crying, but Greitens insisted she stay and unbuttoned his pants to insinuate he wanted oral sex. The woman said she didn’t want to perform oral sex but did so because she felt “coerced.”
“I felt as though that would allow me to leave,” she said. “That’s what he wanted — I felt that’s what he wanted.”
After the report was released, Missouri lawmakers from both parties expressed denounced the findings.
“The testimony outlined in the report is beyond disturbing,” said Republican House Speaker Todd Richardson
“He clearly used his power to manipulate her,” said Democratic Floor Leader Gail Beatty, according to CNN. “I think what we have seen so far is grounds for impeachment.”
Greitens did not testify in the state House report. In January, he admitted tohaving an affair but denied any blackmail attempts.
