On the latest edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum, Rachel Lippmann, Marshall Griffin and Jo Mannies break down all of the developments this week in Gov. Eric Greitens’ political and legal saga.
This week’s episode gives a preview of the governor’s felony invasion of privacy trial, which is slated to get started next week. We also get an update on whether legislators will impeach the governor — and the status of Greitens’ second felony charge for computer data tampering.
Jury selection for Greitens’ trial began on Thursday. It was still going on when this podcast was posted. The jury is expected to be set, at this point, on Tuesday. And that means opening arguments will begin on Wednesday.
Greitens is accused of taking a semi-nude photo of a woman without her consent — and placing it in a position to be electronically transmitted. But St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner doesn’t have the photo she says Greitens took. In fact on Friday, Greitens’ attorney, Jim Martin, said an examination of 16,000 photos and videos on the governor’s phone turned up nothing.
Without a photo, Gardner will need to count on the woman at the center of the case to testify. She’s never spoken publicly since the scandal broke in January.
Here’s what else we talked about on the show:
- What constitutes “transmission” of a photo, the thing required to make what Greitens is accused of a felony.
- The guidelines St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison set out for the media to cover the trial.
- What attorneys are looking for when choosing a jury for Greitens’ trial.
- How lawmakers are planning to arrange a special session for Greitens’ possible impeachment.
- A review of Mannies and Rosenbaum’s interview with GOP political consultant Michael Hafner.
Follow Jason on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
Follow Rachel on Twitter: @rlippmann
Follow Marshall on Twitter: @MarshallGReport
Follow Jo on Twitter: @jmannies
Music: “Treefingers” and “In Limbo” by Radio
