Anti-LGBT Governor resigns after ‘coercing mistress into oral sex’

May 30 2018
Written by Josh Jackman

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 07: Eric Greitens Founder and CEO, The Mission Continues speaks at the Robin Hood Veterans Summit at Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum on May 7, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for The Robin Hood Foundation)

(Craig Barritt/Getty)

Anti-transgender Governor Eric Greitens has announced his resignation following allegations from his mistress that he slapped her, blackmailed her and coerced her into sex.

In 2016, the Missouri Governor accused President Barack Obama of “allowing grown men to go into little girls’ bathrooms” by passing legislation protecting the rights of trans students.

Greitens, 44, was in the middle of a successful election campaign built on a platform of family values, but his time in office has been derailed by reports of his affair with a hairdresser, which he has admitted.

Eric Greitens, an author, photographer and former Navy SEAL, speaks to the corps of cadets at the 22nd Annual Ethics Forum Friday, March 25, 2011, in Leamy Auditorium at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. The Ethics Forum is an event where distinguished speakers come to the Academy and host discussions and lectures on various subjects regarding ethics, and ethical dilemmas in order to further develop leaders of character. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Tamargo

Eric Greitens (Public domain)

She has testified before the Missouri House’s Special Investigative Committee on Oversight that he tied her up in his basement, blindfolded her and spat water into her mouth during the affair in 2015.

Greitens then took a photo of her, she said, before telling her: “You’re not going to mention my name.

“Don’t even mention my name to anybody at all, because if you do, I’m going to take these pictures, and I’m going to put them everywhere I can.

UNIVERSITY CITY, MO - FEBRUARY 22: Missouri Governor Eric Greitens addresses the crowd at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery on February 22, 2017 in University City, Missouri. Greitens and US Vice President Mike Pence were on hand to speak to over 300 volunteers who helped cleanup after the recent vandalism. Since the beginning of the year, there has been a nationwide spike in incidents including bomb threats at Jewish community centers and reports of anti-semitic graffiti. (Photo: Michael Thomas/ Getty Images)

(Michael Thomas/ Getty)

“They are going to be everywhere, and then everyone will know what a little whore you are.”

He then coerced her into oral sex, she said, testifying that she was still crying and felt she had no other choice if she were going to get out of the basement.

On another occasion, Greitens slapped her in the face and called her a whore, she said.

During one sexual encounter between the two, the woman said he “smacked me and grabbed me and shoved me down on the ground.

“And I instantly just started bawling and was just like, ‘What is wrong with you?’

ST CHARLES, MO - NOVEMBER 29: Missouri Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley (L-R), Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens listen to U.S. President Donald Trump during a rally at the St. Charles Convention Center on November 29, 2017 in St. Charles, Missouri. Trump promoted the GOP tax reform plan during the speech. (Photo by Whitney Curtis/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley (L-R), Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Eric Greitens (Whitney Curtis/Getty)

“I just laid there crying while he was just like… ‘You’re fine, you’re fine.’

She said that it “actually hurt, and I know that I actually was really scared and sad when that happened. He basically made it clear that he felt that I was a thing to him.”

Greitens has denied all these allegations, saying that the relationship was consensual.

In February, a St. Louis grand jury charged him with invasion of privacy in relation to the allegations.

UNIVERSITY CITY, MO - FEBRUARY 22: Missouri Governor Eric Greitens speaks to the media at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery on February 22, 2017 in University City, Missouri. Governor Eric Greitens and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence were on hand to speak to over 300 volunteers who helped cleanup after the recent vandalism. Since the beginning of the year, there has been a nationwide spike in incidents including bomb threats at Jewish community centers and reports of anti-semitic graffiti. (Photo by Michael Thomas/Getty Images)

(Michael Thomas/Getty)

In the face of impeachment over the accusations and a campaign finance enquiry, the Governor decided to leave the office, indicating that his resignation would take effect on June 1.

In a news conference on May 29, he said: “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,” he added, before again denying that he had broken the law.

“For the moment let us walk off the battlefield with our heads held high,” he continued. “We have a good and proud story to tell our children.”

Greitens is far from the first Republican to attract a backlash for his behaviour over the past year.

Earlier this month, Dana Rohrabacher, a 15-term Californian congressman, incurred a backlash after saying it’s fine to refuse to sell a house to LGBT customers.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 19: House Science, Space and Technology Committee member Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) questions witnesses from NASA, the Department of Defense and the White House during a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill March 19, 2013 in Washington, DC. The committee asked government and military experts about efforts to track and mitigate asteroids, meteors and other "near-Earth objects." (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(Chip Somodevilla/Getty)

Last year, Ohio congressman Wes Goodman – a married Republican lawmaker with a long history of campaigning against LGBT rights – resigned after being caught having gay sex in his office.

(Wes Goodman)

Republican Ralph Shortey, a senior member of Donald Trump’s primary campaign team in Oklahoma, stepped down as state senator last March after being discovered in a hotel room with a 17-year-old boy who Shortey hired as a prostitute.