Cause-and-Effect Relationship of Governor Greitens’ Case

Cody McLaughlin Professor’s Name Course Details 4/9/2018 Cause-and-Effect Relationship of Governor Greitens’ Case Eric Greitens, the Governor of Missouri, has recently been accused of blackmail, felony invasion of privacy as well as having an extramarital affair. These accusations have escalated in the recent times, prompting an investigation by the St. Louis grand jury and the prosecution office. Eric being a leader and an influential person in Missouri, these causes of action against Gov. Greitens may result in serious consequences on the citizens of Missouri, the office of the Governor and Greitens himself. In the political circle, the calls for his resignation, led by both Republicans and Democrats, have increased. This paper seeks to enlighten the citizens of Missouri on the cause-and-effect relationship associated with Gov. Greitens’ case. Other Aspects I visited with Ryan Silvey, a Clay county resident who won two terms as a state senator and also sat on the state's Public Service Commission assigned by Gov. Greitens. When I asked Mr. Silvey his thoughts on Gov. Greitens actions and how it will effect Missouri, he said, "What the governor did in his basement is not helping the situation, nor are his continued cries of, 'Poor me, this is a witch hunt.' He has no one to blame but himself, and if we lose this seat, I think it's going to be on his head more than anyone else." These allegations of infidelity and blackmail about Gov. Greitens were brought out by a woman in a recording. The woman who made an interview with News 4 claimed she had the sexual encounter with Greitens in March 2015, a fact that has been extensively exposed by the woman’s ex-husband. However, after the encounter, the governor took photographs of the woman when she was nude. The governor took a photo of the sexual encounter with the intention of blackmailing the woman so that she does not disclose any information regarding their encounter (Ballentine and Salter, Pg. 4) .In the recording, the woman described what Greitens allegedly told her while taking her photos. She said: “I knew he was being sexual, and I still let him. And he used some sort of tape, I don’t know what it was, and taped my hands to these rings and then put a blindfold on me.” “He stepped back, I saw a flash through the blindfold and he said: " You are never going to mention my name, otherwise there will be pictures of you everywhere…” (Lauren & John, Pg.4).She said she later realized he took a photo of her. (Lauren & John, Pg.4).The woman’s husband claimed these words were horrible and disgusting and influenced his decision to take the story to the media. Although Gov. Greitens apologized for his actions, the damage had already been done. Immediately after Greitens acknowledged having an extramarital affair in 2015, investigations about his conduct were opened by the police under the instruction of the St. Louis jury. Although Gov. Greitens acknowledged that what he did was wrong, he simultaneously denied allegations that he blackmailed the woman or took nude photographs of her without her consent (Van Der Slik, Pg.33). The investigation reports obtained by St. Louis jury indicated that he partially or fully photographed the woman without her permission. Additionally, the investigators claimed that Gov. Greitens transmitted the photos in a way that allowed them to be viewed by other people on their computers. Therefore, he is investigated for a crime deemed as a felony by prosecutors rather than a misdemeanor (Kadish, Stephen and Rachel, Pg.46) As a result of these investigations, Gov. Greitens had already been booked into a St. Louis jail. However, he was released immediately on his own recognizance. Through his lawyer, he has defended himself through various posts on Facebook and media statements. He has frequently suggested that the charges were the work of a reckless liberal prosecutor who used her office to gain political points. These words are a reference to Kimberly Gardner who is the St. Louis prosecutor, a Democrat, and whose office presented the case to the Grand Jury for investigations. The governor appeared in court on the 16th of March to answer thes...