JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. _ The Missouri Attorney General's office has subpoenaed 15 people affiliated with groups created by Gov. Eric Greitens as part of its investigation into possible violations by the charity he founded, The Mission Continues.
The charity has been the subject of much scrutiny since Greitens' campaign for governor. The Missouri Ethics Committee fined his campaign for not reporting that it received a donor list from the charity, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported that a Greitens staffer emailed the list to campaign staffers.
Attorney General Josh Hawley said his office had issued 15 subpoenas as of Friday morning to current or former staffers for The Mission Continues, The Greitens Group and Greitens' campaign for governor. Hawley would not identify who the people were.
"This is a very active investigation and is progressing by the day," he said Friday. "We just want the facts here."
Hawley declined to say if Greitens himself had been subpoenaed, but the attorney general said his office would fight against any assertion of executive privilege used to avoid answering questions. A previous investigation by Hawley of the Greitens administration's use of the text-destroying app Confide did not attempt to interview the governor after one of Greitens' attorneys said the governor might assert executive privilege to avoid interviews with investigators.
Hawley's office let Greitens know this month that it had found no evidence of wrongdoing by the governor or his staff for their use of Confide. Staffers told Hawley's investigators that they only used the app to schedule meetings.
Regarding the charity investigation, Hawley said some of the work his office was doing "touched on" some of the work of the St. Louis circuit attorney's office. Kim Gardner's office is preparing for a May 14 trial in which Greitens is charged with felony invasion of privacy for allegedly snapping a picture of a woman he was having an affair with without her consent.
Susan Ryan, Gardner's spokeswoman, confirmed the office was looking into "potential criminal" issues with Greitens' charity. But her office and the attorney general were looking into separate matters, which she couldn't comment on because it's an ongoing investigation, she said.
"We are investigating different things," Ryan said. "We are coordinating (with Hawley's office) to make sure we're not stepping on each other's toes."
Hawley said his office would assist Gardner's if the need arose.
A spokeswoman for The Mission Continues said it was "fully cooperating" with Hawley's investigation.
"We look forward to the completion of those efforts," Laura L'Esperance said in a statement. "We want to reiterate that we completely abstain from any and all political activities. The most disappointing aspect of the Greitens' campaign's action is the disruption it has created."
On Friday, Hawley urged anyone with information relevant to The Mission Continues to contact his office. He also urged anyone who was or will be served with a subpoena to comply with it.
"Failure to do so is itself a separate, criminal violation under Missouri statute," he said.
But he remained tight-lipped about where exactly the investigation was headed.
"I don't want to reveal the scope or the trajectory of the investigation," Hawley said.
Beyond Hawley's and Gardner's investigations, Greitens is facing a third investigation into his past behavior.
Members of the Missouri House have been meeting behind closed doors and have interviewed the former husband of the woman Greitens admitted to having an affair with. Friday's planned meeting was canceled, and their next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
It's unclear if the House's investigation has expanded. Rep. Jay Barnes, a Republican, told reporters before the Legislature's spring break that he didn't have "any details of substance" to offer.
On Friday, Hawley said he was keeping the House members up to speed on his investigation into Greitens' charity. His office had also shared its findings into the use Confide with them, he said.
When lawmakers return for the session's second half on Monday, the deadline for the House members' findings will be a couple weeks away.
A spokesman for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
