JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ Attorneys for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens have asked a Cole County judge to put the brakes on Attorney General Josh Hawley's investigation of Greitens' former charity, The Mission Continues.
In a court filing made Monday, Greitens' attorneys said Circuit Judge Jon E. Beetem should issue a restraining order and appoint a special prosecutor to conduct any investigations against Greitens, his office or entities connected with the governor.
The attorneys state that Hawley has damaged his impartiality in investigating Greitens in multiple instances, including saying Greitens' predicament is "very grave" on March 28 and calling on Greitens to "resign immediately" last week.
"AG Hawley's public statements demonstrate that he understands that by calling for Gov. Greitens to resign, he has predetermined the guilt of his own investigative target and his investigation now is clearly compromised," the attorneys wrote in the court filing. "The appearance of impropriety is so great as to require recusal of the entire (attorney general's office)."
The attorneys also cite case law to argue that Hawley has a "personal interest in the outcome of his investigation, namely that the Governor resign or be impeached." They argue this disqualifies him from proceeding.
Hawley's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this week, Hawley refused to recuse himself from investigating Greitens, saying his call for Greitens to resign had to do with sexual misconduct allegations against him, not his cozy ties to his former charity.
"The Attorney General called for the Governor's resignation because the House Investigative Committee concluded there was credible evidence that the Governor committed egregious sexual misconduct. The Attorney General's investigation into The Mission Continues does not address those allegations," Mary Compton, spokeswoman for Hawley's office, said in an email Monday.
On Tuesday, Hawley said at a news conference that his office had uncovered evidence Greitens may have committed felony computer tampering when he allegedly took a donor list from the charity he founded, The Mission Continues, and used it to raise campaign cash.
Meanwhile, Missouri political consultants have begun worrying that Greitens' legal problems _ and refusal to resign _ are helping sink Hawley's U.S. Senate campaign. He is trying to unseat U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., this November.
Talk of the legal team's connections to Democrats has been circulating among Republican state lawmakers in recent days.
According to federal campaign finance records, one of Greitens' attorneys, Ed Dowd contributed more than $11,000 to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill when she last ran in 2012.
He also contributed over $9,000 to the Missouri Democratic Party that year.
Conversely, however, James Bennett, another one of Greitens' top attorneys, contributed $2,000 to U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and $1,000 to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in 2016.
Attorneys at Dowd Bennett did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
