Greitens set to testify in custody case amid abuse allegations

Missouri Republican Senate candidate Eric Greitens will testify on Wednesday in a child custody case involving his ex-wife Sheena Greitens, where the former governor will likely be asked about allegations of abuse toward his ex-wife and children.

Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Leslie Schneider announced at a court hearing Friday that Eric Greitens would be deposed the following week in a private trial, the Kansas City Star reported.

The Wednesday trial will determine whether the case remains in Missouri or is moved to Florida, where Sheena Greitens lives and works as a professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

The professor publicly accused her ex-husband of abuse in March, saying that he was physically and verbally abusive toward her and her children.

Eric Greitens allegedly also confiscated his then-wife’s phone, keys and wallet and threatened to kill himself to coerce his wife into providing him with “public political support.”

The Senate candidate, whose deposition could jeopardize his place in Missouri’s Republican primary on Aug. 2, has denied his ex-wife’s allegations, calling them “gross” and “completely false.”

“Eric will fight for his children and defend himself from these outright lies. His children deserve a father who will speak the truth and stand up against malicious attacks that are clearly politically motivated,” his campaign said in March.

Sheena Greitens alleged abuse to a therapist and a lawyer in 2018 before making her claims public this year, based on communications that were shared with the Star.

The same year, Eric Greitens resigned from the governorship after it was revealed that he was having an affair with his hairstylist.

The hairstylist alleged that she had been coerced into a sexual relationship with the then-governor.

Sheena Greitens’s lawyer, Helen Wade, says that her client has struggled with moving back and forth between the two states to pursue her case.

“Quite frankly, [Sheena Greitens] can’t keep coming up here to do this,” Wade said in court on Friday, the Star reported.