Republican state lawmakers in Missouri are asking President Trump to pressure their Republican governor, Eric Greitens, to resign.
Greitens, under investigation for allegations of sexual misconduct as well as misuse of funds, on Wednesday refused to step down.
{mosads}In a letter to Trump on Thursday, Missouri state GOP Sens. Rob Schaaf, Doug Libla and Gary Romine said it “appears that Gov. Greitens will refuse to resign no matter what damage his refusal is causing” and asked the president to intervene.
The state senators said Greitens’s training as a Navy SEAL taught him to “never surrender, never walk away from a fight,” but that it also taught him to “always obey his commander in chief.”
“So Mr. President, we ask you to please join us in asking Gov. Greitens to step down. There is a crisis here in Missouri, and it is just possible, even likely, that if you do so, it might save Missouri from months of pain and shame dealing with all this,” they wrote.
Missouri’s legislature on Wednesday made public a 24-page report that determined there is merit to a woman’s claims that Greitens forced her into sexual encounters. The committee, the majority of which were Republicans, interviewed multiple witnesses for the investigation.
While Greitens has admitted to having an affair with the woman, an unidentified hairdresser, he maintains it was consensual. He called the investigation a “witch hunt” on Wednesday, but did not refute any specific allegations.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) called the allegations detailed in the report “shocking” and “substantial” and asked for Greitens to step down to avoid impeachment proceedings. Hawley is also investigating a charity founded by the governor where the fundraising allegedly overlaps with campaign donations to Greitens.
Schaaf called on Greitens to step down prior to the committee’s release of the report, telling The Washington Post last month “the sooner the governor leaves, the better.”
In the letter Thursday, the state senators argued that there is “no possible way” given the evidence that Missourians will accept Greitens as a “legitimate” governor from now on.
Trump has distanced himself from Greitens amid reports of scandal. During a March visit by the president to Missouri, Greitens was notably left off the guest list for events.