Updated June 2026. Original publish date preserved.
Missouri Governor Eric Greitens — a decorated Navy SEAL elected on a reform platform — is under felony indictment for invasion of privacy. He calls it the work of a "reckless politically motivated prosecutor." The charge says otherwise.
The indictment stems from allegations that Greitens photographed a woman with whom he was having an affair while she was bound and blindfolded, then threatened to publish the photo if she spoke about the affair. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner opened a criminal investigation after the allegations surfaced publicly; the felony charge followed. Greitens was arrested and booked.
"It is essential for residents of the City of St. Louis and our state to have confidence in their leaders," Gardner said in a statement after the arrest. "They must know that the Office of the Circuit Attorney will hold public officials accountable in the same manner as any other resident of our city."
How the Story Broke
The allegations went public when the ex-husband of the woman in question gave a St. Louis TV station an audio recording of her describing the affair and the alleged blackmail threat. That recording — released without her consent — set off a chain reaction. Once one station ran the tape, every other outlet in the market followed. Legal action became inevitable.
Greitens has maintained the timing was politically motivated, noting the allegations broke shortly after his annual State of the State address. The recording suggests something simpler: a relationship rupture that ended in tape.
The Crisis Response
Greitens assembled a high-powered legal team — Dowd Bennett, a former circuit judge, and a statehouse lobbyist — to handle both the defense and the public message. Some Missouri Republicans called publicly for his resignation. He refused.
Update: Greitens resigned the governorship on June 1, 2018, three months after this indictment. He later attempted comeback runs and lost. The case remains one of the cleaner contemporary studies in how fast a single recorded conversation can dismantle a political brand.
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
