1. Eric Greitens commanded a unit targeting al-Qaeda, and was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
115 Facts About Eric Greitens
1. 2.
Later, after being a White House fellow, Eric Greitens founded a nonprofit organization, The Mission Continues, to benefit veterans.
3.
Eric Greitens ran for governor of Missouri as a Republican in 2016.
4.
Eric Greitens defeated Democratic Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster in the general election.
5.
In February 2018, Eric Greitens was charged with felony invasion of privacy and later with campaign-related offenses.
6.
Eric Greitens was indicted on felony charges of computer tampering in April 2018; all charges were dropped in May 2018.
7.
Eric Greitens resigned from office on June 1,2018, after the Missouri General Assembly commenced a special session to consider impeachment.
8.
In 2022 Eric Greitens attempted a return to public office, running for the US Senate seat being vacated by retiring incumbent Roy Blunt in the 2022 election.
9.
Eric Greitens lost the Republican primary to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who won the general election.
10.
Eric Greitens was born on April 10,1974, in St Louis, Missouri, to Becky and Rob Eric Greitens.
11.
Eric Greitens's mother was a special education teacher and his father was an accountant for the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
12.
Eric Greitens's mother is Jewish and his father is Catholic; Greitens was raised Jewish.
13.
Eric Greitens matriculated at the United States Navy's Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, in January 2001, graduating in May of that year as an ensign in the United States Navy Reserve.
14.
Eric Greitens rose to be a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy Reserve.
15.
Eric Greitens was the commander of a joint special operations task unit, a Mark V Special Operations Craft detachment, and an al-Qaeda targeting cell.
16.
In 2005, Eric Greitens left full-time active duty to take a one-year White House fellowship.
17.
Eric Greitens remained a Navy reservist and led a program that recruited advisers for special military operations around the world.
18.
Eric Greitens was among about 15 who were wounded, and he received a Purple Heart.
19.
Eric Greitens was awarded the Bronze Star and Combat Action Ribbon.
20.
In January 2019, Eric Greitens sought to be reinstated to the Navy's Selected Reserve.
21.
Eric Greitens was instead classified as a general unrestricted line officer, a category for reservists tasked with office duties.
22.
Eric Greitens taught public service at the Truman School of Public Affairs and was an adjunct professor of business ethics in the MBA program at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St Louis.
23.
In total, as CEO of The Mission Continues, Eric Greitens received $700,000 in compensation from the nonprofit.
24.
Eric Greitens stepped down as CEO in 2014 and left the board of the organization in 2015.
25.
The Associated Press reported in March 2018 that Eric Greitens had used the charity's email account to arrange political meetings about his gubernatorial campaign, which is prohibited by federal tax law.
26.
Eric Greitens was accused of using the charity's list of donors to raise money for his campaign, a violation of campaign finance law.
27.
Eric Greitens drew from his military experience for his career as a speaker at corporate events.
28.
Danny Laub, a former political aide to Eric Greitens, testified that in 2015, he was paid from grant funds from the John Templeton Foundation, administered by Washington University in St Louis, to promote the work while simultaneously setting up Eric Greitens's gubernatorial campaign.
29.
Eric Greitens was a popular speaker before he began his political career.
30.
Eric Greitens responded by releasing his military records and publishing a video he uploaded to his channel with testimonials from SEALs and Marines with whom he had served.
31.
Eric Greitens said he had been raised in the tradition of Harry Truman and had been recruited as a Democratic candidate for Congress, but was pushed rightward after seeing the Department of Veterans Affairs fail to help many of his brothers in arms.
32.
Eric Greitens recalled being angered at how the Democrats' only solution was to "spend more money" on the VA.
33.
Eric Greitens said he believed Democrats no longer had the right ideas to stand up for the middle class.
34.
On September 26,2015, Eric Greitens announced his candidacy for governor of Missouri as a Republican.
35.
Eric Greitens had assured voters he intended to increase transparency while reducing corruption in state politics as a campaign focus.
36.
Eric Greitens identifies himself as a conservative outsider, and is a member of the Republican Party.
37.
Eric Greitens called himself a "Make America Great Again" candidate, and often voiced opposition to leading Republicans such as Mitch McConnell for being insufficiently conservative.
38.
Eric Greitens has opposed federal matching grants for state projects, saying they "unbalance" state budgets, and voiced support for block grants instead.
39.
Eric Greitens supported public infrastructure investment as a tool for economic development and to reduce unemployment.
40.
Eric Greitens initially opposed public funding or tax credits for construction of the Centene Stadium in St Louis on land owned by the Missouri Department of Transportation, but later said he was "willing to work with" investors.
41.
Eric Greitens opposed the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, calling it "irresponsible socialist legislation".
42.
Eric Greitens voiced support for continuing construction of the Keystone Pipeline.
43.
In February 2017, Eric Greitens signed a bill making Missouri the 28th right-to-work state.
44.
The Eric Greitens administration sided with agriculture industry in opposing the Obama administration's proposed "Waters of the United States" rule.
45.
Eric Greitens supported the Missouri Steel Mill Bill, legislation that allowed utility regulators to approve lower electricity rates for industrial companies using large amounts of energy.
46.
Eric Greitens called a special legislative session in May 2017, bringing the Missouri General Assembly back to the Capitol to pass the legislation one week after its regular session adjourned.
47.
Ultimately, the General Assembly passed the legislation and Eric Greitens signed it into law on June 16,2017.
48.
In 2018, Eric Greitens proposed a package of $800 million in state tax cuts.
49.
Eric Greitens proposed the creation of a non-refundable state tax credit for low-income workers, and applying the Missouri sales tax to online purchases for the first time.
50.
Eric Greitens went on a statewide tour with former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee in support of the legislation.
51.
Eric Greitens specifically targeted a St Louis law that banned employers and landlords from discriminating against women who have had an abortion.
52.
Alison Dreith, the executive director of NARAL Pro Choice Missouri, said the session was "political theater"; Eric Greitens signed the wide-ranging anti-abortion measure into law in June 2017, at a private ceremony with legislators who sponsored the bill and anti-abortion lobbyists.
53.
Eric Greitens was featured in the 2018 Netflix documentary film Reversing Roe.
54.
Eric Greitens staunchly opposed proposals to accept the Medicaid expansion in Missouri under the Affordable Care Act.
55.
Eric Greitens called for the ACA to be repealed and replaced.
56.
Eric Greitens was widely praised for calling attention to the epidemic, but received some criticism from state legislators who considered the order an abuse of executive power.
57.
Eric Greitens voiced his support for use of medical cannabis in some circumstances.
58.
In 2017, Eric Greitens named Drew Juden director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
59.
Juden denied any wrongdoing, framing the findings as a political attack, and Eric Greitens defended Juden's conduct.
60.
Eric Greitens signed a "Blue Alert" law modeled after the Amber Alert system for missing children.
61.
Eric Greitens pursued the idea to allow public broadcasts of information that could assist in the apprehension of individuals who commit violence against police officers.
62.
In 2017, Eric Greitens granted a stay of execution to Marcellus Williams, who had been set to be executed that day.
63.
Eric Greitens appointed a board of five retired judges to investigate the case and make a recommendation.
64.
Eric Greitens said he would preserve the right to peacefully protest but would oversee the prosecution of persons engaging in looting, violence, or other criminal activity.
65.
In December 2017, Eric Greitens commuted the life prison sentence of Judy Henderson, who had been jailed for 35 years after being convicted of the July 1981 robbery-murder of jeweler Harry Klein.
66.
Eric Greitens went to Chillicothe Correctional Center to meet with Henderson, then 68, and sign the commutation papers.
67.
On his last day in office, Eric Greitens granted Henderson a pardon.
68.
Eric Greitens phoned into the meeting and voted to zero out the tax credits while Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson voted to keep them.
69.
Eric Greitens accused the low-income housing industry of conspiring to upend his political career though legal troubles and the threat of impeachment.
70.
In 2017, Eric Greitens announced the Missouri Army National Guard would add nearly 800 soldiers by 2019.
71.
In February 2018, Eric Greitens announced that members of the Missouri National Guard would train with the Israeli Home Front Command.
72.
In June 2017, Eric Greitens signed Missouri's first Foster Care Bill of Rights, which outlined specific measures designed to improve the safety and quality of life of children in Missouri's foster care system.
73.
The Eric Greitens administration waived the $15 fee for foster children to obtain copies of their birth certificates; made appointments to child protection boards, many of which had previously been unable to function due to lack of a quorum; and joined the National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise, an interstate compact to facilitate adoption and fostering across state lines.
74.
The order banned employees in the governor's office from lobbying the executive branch while Eric Greitens was in office.
75.
In 2017, Eric Greitens criticized fellow Republicans Denny Hoskins and Paul Wieland on social media.
76.
Eric Greitens approved a plan to cut more than two dozen state boards and commissions, in line with a 2017 Boards and Commissions Task Force report that outlined ways to eliminate 439 gubernatorial appointments and to eliminate or merge numerous state boards and commissions.
77.
Eric Greitens ordered the sale of 30 cars from the state's Office of Administration General Services fleet and the sale of one of two state-owned passenger planes.
78.
Eric Greitens released $4 million in biodiesel facility subsidies, which was originally withheld because of concerns about a prospective state budget shortfall.
79.
Eric Greitens ended a longstanding state policy against using tax dollars to aid religious groups.
80.
Eric Greitens's decision came a week before the US Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v Comer.
81.
Eric Greitens instructed the Department of Natural Resources to allow religious organizations to apply for and be eligible to receive those grants.
82.
KMOV played a recording made by the hairstylist's then-husband in which she said that Eric Greitens had invited her to his home, where she consented to having her hands taped to exercise rings above her head while she was undressed, after which she was blindfolded.
83.
Eric Greitens was released on his own recognizance and waived his first appearance.
84.
In pre-trial depositions, William Tisaby, a former FBI agent who assisted St Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner with the Eric Greitens investigations, affirmed to defense attorneys that he had taken notes during his interview of the woman.
85.
Several Republican members of the Missouri House of Representatives called on Eric Greitens to resign after the allegations were made public.
86.
The report testimony details how Eric Greitens took many precautions to hide the affair, including making her change clothes and leave all of her belongings in his kitchen, and blackmailed her into secrecy about the affair with a naked photo of her taken without her consent.
87.
Eric Greitens was physically and verbally abusive, according to the witness.
88.
On May 29,2018, Eric Greitens announced that he would resign effective June 1,2018.
89.
Eric Greitens signed a law making revenge porn illegal in Missouri.
90.
Eric Greitens issued four commutations and five pardons on his final day in office.
91.
Eric Greitens made some changes to the cabinet, announcing director changes for five agencies.
92.
Eric Greitens admitted to failing to give Greitens's lawyers documents, including his notes from an interview with the women involved in the case.
93.
On December 31,2018, the Special Investigative Committee on Oversight that was investigating Eric Greitens released its final report.
94.
On June 2,2019, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Eric Greitens had returned to the US Navy as a Naval Reserve Officer.
95.
In March 2018, Hawley cleared Eric Greitens, finding no evidence of wrongdoing.
96.
In 2019, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem sided with Eric Greitens, dismissing the claims that Eric Greitens's office had subverted or violated any laws.
97.
Beetem ruled that as a private citizen, St Louis attorney Ben Sansone lacked standing to sue Eric Greitens over alleged Sunshine Law violations.
98.
In October 2016, the Associated Press first reported that Eric Greitens's campaign had obtained a list of donors to The Mission Continues, the 501 nonprofit that Eric Greitens had founded, and that the political campaign had raised almost $2 million from donors who previously contributed money to the nonprofit.
99.
Eric Greitens initially denied using the list, but in April 2017 he acknowledged its use.
100.
Eric Greitens said the list was provided by his then-campaign manager, but the former manager denied that.
101.
In 2020, the Missouri Ethics Commission found probable cause that Eric Greitens's campaign had violated campaign finance law by coordinating with, and failing to report legal in-kind contributions from, outside "dark money" groups during his 2016 gubernatorial campaign.
102.
Eric Greitens's campaign agreed to the penalty settlement and denied doing anything wrong.
103.
In 2020, Eric Greitens announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2022 United States Senate election in Missouri to succeed the retiring Roy Blunt.
104.
Notable Republican opponents of Eric Greitens's candidacy included Karl Rove, Johnny DeStefano, and Senator Rick Scott, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
105.
Eric Greitens carried a few Bootheel counties but no other region.
106.
Eric Greitens was married to Sheena Elise Chestnut from 2011 to 2020.
107.
Eric Greitens is featured in Joe Klein's book Charlie Mike: A True Story of Heroes Who Brought Their Mission Home.
108.
Missouri's first Jewish governor, Eric Greitens attends the Reform B'nai El synagogue.
109.
Eric Greitens was a boxer in college with a black belt in taekwondo.
110.
In 2015, Eric Greitens had an extramarital affair with his hairstylist.
111.
Eric Greitens said a 2018 report by the Missouri House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight, which concluded that the woman's accusations were credible, was discredited.
112.
Eric Greitens's ex-wife said in a sworn affidavit that he had admitted to taking the pictures.
113.
Eric Greitens denied allegations of abuse, saying they are politically motivated and that leading Republicans helped his ex-wife write the affidavit.
114.
Eric Greitens was named the 2010 Reader of the Year by Outside magazine.
115.
In 2012, Eric Greitens was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Tufts University.