Peter Kinder calls for Greitens to resign or face impeachment; local lawmakers not calling for impeachment ... yet

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens should resign or be impeached, the state's former lieutenant governor, Peter Kinder, said Wednesday after a House committee released a report describing the governor's sexual encounter with his hairdresser.

Local lawmakers stopped short of calling for his impeachment.

But Kinder, who grew up in Cape Girardeau and still resides here, issued a written statement criticizing Greitens' actions.

Kinder, who ran unsuccessfully against Greitens in the 2016 Republican primary, said his opponent pledged to be "the cleansing agent" against government corruption in state government.

"When he won the primary and the general elections, and then as he took office, we Republicans hoped for the best," Kinder wrote.

But he said, "Those hopes have been dashed into bitter disappointment. Because of his actions, and for no other reason, his capacity for the leadership our state needs has drained away."

Conservative political efforts on everything from fiscal responsibility to tax reform "hang in the balance," Kinder said.

As a result, Kinder wrote Greitens should resign or the state House should commence impeachment.

Two Cape Girardeau County Republican lawmakers -- state Reps. Donna Lichtenegger and Kathy Swan -- called in February for Greitens to resign, citing what they said was his unethical behavior.

Both lawmakers still stand by their call for Greitens to resign.

After reading the House committee report, with its graphic testimony of the hairdresser, Lichtenegger said she feels more strongly the governor should resign.

"She was assaulted both physically and mentally," she said of the woman, who was identified as Witness 1 in the report.

Lichtenegger said she is not ready to call for impeachment.

She said the House committee is still investigating other actions of Greitens and will have a final report by May 18.

"I can't make that decision (whether to support impeachment) until the report is finished," she said.

Lichtenegger praised the initial report from the House committee. "I found what they did was incredible. This was not an easy job," she said.

Swan called the report "quite graphic and disturbing."

Like Lichtenegger, Swan said she is not ready to call for impeachment.

Swan said she expects the committee will make a recommendation regarding whether to seek impeachment when it issues its final report.

Both Lichtenegger and Swan said it is disingenuous for Greitens to call the report one-sided when he declined to testify before the committee.

State Rep. Rick Francis, R-Perryville, said there was nothing new in the House report.

Since the committee has yet to complete its work, "I feel like the report should not have come out," he said. "It really contained no new evidence."

Francis said without testimony from Greitens, "we only have heard one side."

The Perryville lawmaker said the House should not look at the issue of impeachment until after Greitens' criminal trial ends.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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