Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greiten’s ex-wife accused him of physically abusing her and their son in a court affidavit, according to The New York Times.
University of Texas at Austin Professor Sheena Chestnut Greitens said in a sworn affidavit in a child custody dispute that Greitens, who is running for the Senate, abused her before their divorce in 2020.
“Prior to our divorce, during an argument in late April 2018, Eric knocked me down and confiscated my cellphone, wallet and keys so that I was unable to call for help or extricate myself and our children from our home,” she wrote.
She added that his “behavior included physical violence toward our children, such as cuffing our then-3-year-old son across the face at the dinner table in front of me and yanking him around by his hair.”
In another portion, she wrote that Greitens threatened to kill himself “unless I provided specific public political support to him.”
Greitens denies:
Greitens’ campaign issued a statement denying the allegation and claiming they were politically motivated.
The campaign said Professor Greitens was “engaged in a last-ditch attempt to vindictively destroy her ex-husband.”
Greitens himself said he would continue “fighting for the truth and against completely fabricated, baseless allegations.”
Greitens resigned as governor in 2018 after an affair with his former hairdresser, who accused him of tying her up and taking nude photos of her without consent that he then released.
Prosecutors also said he misused his charity’s donor list for political purposes.
GOP backlash:
Several Republicans in the state called on Greitens to drop out of the race.
“He should drop out of the U.S. Senate race immediately,” said Greitens’ GOP opponent Rep. Vicky Hartzler, adding that Greitens had a “pattern of criminal behavior that makes Eric unfit to hold any public office.”
Sen. Josh Hawley also called for Greitens to “leave this race.”
“If you hit a woman or a child, you belong in handcuffs, not the United States Senate,” he wrote.
