Facing impeachment my his legislature for legally questionable behavior involving an extra-marital affair, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens resigned Tuesday afternoon in a live press conference.
Local NewsChannel5 KSDK broadcast the Governors remarks via Facebook Live:
The announcement was brief.
Greitens entered the room through a door at the front of the room in suit coat and open collar, stepped up to the podium and said:
Good afternoon.
Today, I am announcing I will resign as Governor of Missouri effective Friday, June 1st, at 5pm.
I came to office to fight for the people of Missouri. To fight for the forgotten.
I love Missouri, and I love our people. That love remains.
I am thankful to all those who have worked beside me, sweated beside me, those who gave their time, their energy, and their precious resources so that we could pursue our mission of taking Missouri in a new and better direction.
We have accomplished a lot together. I am proud of you, and I am proud of all of our work.
The last few months have been incredibly difficult for me, for my family, for my team, for my friends, and for many, many people that I love.
This ordeal has been designed to cause an incredible amount of strain on my family. Millions of dollars in mounting legal bills, endless personal attacks designed to cause maximum damage to family and friends.
Legal harassment or colleagues, friends, and campaign workers, and it’s clear for that the forces that oppose us, there is no end in sight.
I cannot allow those forces to continue to cause pain and difficulty to the people that I love.
I know, and people of good faith know, that I am not perfect. But I have not broken any laws or committed any offense worthy of this treatment.
I will let the fairness of this process be judged by history.
It has been a great honor and a privilege to serve as your Governor. Travelling the state, I have talked with many of you who harbor extraordinary anger at this ordeal and for those who have pushed and promoted it.
For those who would be moved to vengeance, let us allow history and God to bring justice.
We must, as we have always done, work to improve the lives of those around us.
This is not the end of our fight. I will always be a fighter for the people of Missouri.
A great deal of work is left undone. The time has come, though, to tend to thouse who have been wounded and to care for those who nee us most.
So for the moment, let us walk off the battlefields with our heads held high. We have a good and proud story to tell our children. Let’s love them and each other every day.
May God continue to bless you, and to bless the great state of Missouri.
Thank you.
NBC affiliate NewsChannel5 summarized the embattled Republican’s path to resignation:
In February, Greitens was indicted for invasion of privacy. The charges were dropped a few weeks ago, but the investigation into the governor’s actions continued in Jefferson City, where a special session to consider his impeachment was already announced.
The special House Committee investigating the governor released a report about the affair in April on April 11.
Less than a week later, Attorney General Josh Hawley announced his office found proof of computer tampering, and charges were brought against the governor in St. Louis.
During the special session, Greitens has been subpoenaed to testify before the committee, and earlier Monday, a secretive group supporting Greitens was told they must open their books for the special committee.
According to Missouri law, Lt. Governor Mike Parson will take over as governor.
