The following is an editorial by Armstrong Williams
Former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens’ meteoric rise to power and dramatic fall from grace has found a happy ending of sorts. Not only was Greitens recently exonerated of all wrongdoing after a 20-month investigation conducted by the Missouri Department of Ethics, his accusers, including St Louis’s first African American city prosecutor, are finding themselves facing scrutiny and possible prison time for their roles in falsely accusing the former governor.
The scandal seemingly erupted out of nowhere in January 2018, a day after then-Governor Greitens had delivered his second state-of-the-state address. His administration was in a celebratory mood after Greitens, a conservative outsider and Navy Seal veteran had, in just under two years in office, managed to successfully introduced legislation that ended gifts to lobbyists, killed politicians pay raise, and slammed shut the revolving door between lobbyists and the executive branch. Most notably, he had managed to put a halt to Missouri’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit – an insider-cabal that made developers and syndicators rich to the tune of more than a billion dollars over the preceding decade, but provided very little actual low-income housing.
Apparently cutting off the taxpayer-funded gravy train pissed off a lot of insiders. They soon conspired with the help of newly elected St Louis circuit attorney Kim Gardner, to bring Greitens down. Gardner, whose campaign was largely funded by billionaire activist George Soros, rose to power on the heels of the unrest in Ferguson, on a campaign of reforming the St Louis police department and mending the frayed community relations. She was seen as the anti-police candidate, in stark contrast to Greitens who actively promoted police officers and was supported by police unions.
After media reports of an extra-marital affair Greitens had before he was elected began to leak, Greitens admitted to the affair in January 2018. The next day, Gardner announced she was initiating an investigation into allegations that Greitens had attempted to blackmail his former paramour into keeping silent by threatening to disclose a compromising photo of her. As the record in the case later revealed, Gardner had already initiated an investigation into Greitens almost a month previously, in December 2017. And so began a concerted effort by the Soros-funded Gardner and an outside investigator to bring down the governor based on a manufactured investigation with no evidence.
Greitens was dutifully arrested, dragged down to police headquarters for a mugshot, and indicted on charges of felony sexual misconduct and campaign malfeasance. Both charges were later dropped after prosecutors failed to disclose any evidence, but they stuck long enough to force Greitens’ resignation from office.
As prosecutors prepared the trial, several unusual tactics were revealed. First, and most strikingly, is that Gardner did not rely upon the St Louis police department to investigate the sexual misconduct charges. Instead, she hired an outside investigator, former FBI agent William Tisaby to handle the investigation. Tisaby is now alleged to have lied under oath (he is being charged with six counts of perjury by a special prosecutor assigned to investigate the case against Greitens), and to have withheld exculpatory evidence from Greitens defense. A central question is whether any evidence of a photograph even existed.
There were allegedly cash payments totaling almost $120,000 made to witnesses, adding further speculation as to the political motives of the prosecution’s case. There were further allegations contained in the deposition transcripts that the day Ms. Gardner brought charges against Governor Greitens, his principal political adversary in the Missouri legislature was texting Greitens accuser (for whom she had served as a long-time mentor), urging her to come forward with her allegations.
When the taped deposition which investigator Tisaby denied under oath even existed later magically surfaced, the accuser admitted that she had not approached police with her allegation because she could have ‘dreamed’ about the photo and was not sure about her recollection. She had not gone forward to police for a reason – she herself did not have any evidence.
But what is more alarming is the extent to which a Soros-funded prosecutor and investigator were able to weaponize law enforcement against a political adversary. They manufactured a fake investigation out of whole cloth, and claimed it was an independent investigation. Many shrugged off as hyperbole the Trump administration’s complaints about a ‘deep state’ conspiracy to delegitimize the results of the election by manufacturing crimes, investigating them, and then spreading a false narrative through the media – but the saga involving ex-Governor Greitens is a clearly documented case of deep-state perfidy. They created enough smoke to force a duly elected Governor from office, thus negating the will of the voters who elected him.
Although the charges were withdrawn as soon as misconduct in the investigation was discovered, and Ms. Gardner herself was going to be forced by the presiding judge to testify under oath about what she knew about the false allegations, the damage was already done. The Tisaby trial is due to start in a few weeks. It is likely that he may try to get a deal for reduced charges – he is facing significant jail time if convicted – and will implicate Circuit Attorney Gardner in the false allegations against Greitens. Meanwhile, the national media has picked up the story about Greitens' complete exoneration, although local media seems to be slow on the uptake. Greitens’ legal team is awaiting the outcome of the Tisaby trial to determine whether it will bring its own civil lawsuits against those involved in his malicious prosecution.
Ms. Gardner seems to sense the peril she’s in as well. She recently filed a federal lawsuit against the city alleging that St. Louis unprecedented decision to appoint a special prosecutor in the Greitens investigation is a racially motivated conspiracy to undermine her effectiveness in holding the police and other public officials accountable. She is suing under the Klu Klux Klan act of 1871 – which was designed to eliminate extralegal violence and protect the civil and political rights of freed slaves. The bill authorizes the President to intervene against any states’ attempt to deny “any person or any class of persons of the equal protection of the laws, or of equal privileges or immunities under the laws.”
The irony of course, is that Ms. Gardner, in weaponizing government power against her political adversaries and bringing false charges that resulted in bringing down a duly elected governor, may have committed the very violations that the law was designed to prevent. Many citizens, including African Americans Ms. Gardner says she wants to protect, seem appalled by the affair. They are frightened. After all, if prosecutors could weaponize the law against the rich and politically well-connected, those who have resources to defend themselves, imagine what they could do against the average person on the street corner with no education, wealth or connections.
Greitens and his family and close associates are trying to pick up the pieces as best they can. They are well on their way of repairing their reputations, which had been shattered by the whole affair. The toll on the families involved has been quite high – both financially and emotionally - and there is still lots of healing that needs to take place. Greitens does see some light at the end of the tunnel though. “I love serving,” he said. “I am still in the Navy reserves, and at some point I’d love to serve again. But right now I am really focused on trying to get the truth out.”
Mr. Williams is Manager / Sole Owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year.
www.armstrongwilliams.com | www.howardstirkholdings.com
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Editor's Note: Sinclair Broadcast Group has a business relationship with Armstrong Williams, who is a political commentator and the owner of Howard Stirk Holdings.