Missouri governor defies calls to resign

Missouri's Republican legislative leadership is calling for fellow GOP Gov. Eric Greitens to resign, but the governor says he won't quit.

Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard, House Speaker Todd Richardson and other House leaders called on Greitens to step down Tuesday after the state's attorney general found evidence that Greitens may have committed a felony in his use of a charity donor list for political purposes.

Richard also called for impeachment proceedings to begin immediately.

The Associated Press first reported in October 2016 that Greitens' campaign had obtained a list of top donors to The Mission Continues. The AP found that Greitens' campaign had raised nearly $2 million from donors who previously gave significant amounts to The Mission Continues. Hawley says his office found evidence that Greitens transmitted that list without permission in violation of the law.

A spokeswoman for The Mission Continues says Gov. Eric Greitens had access to its donor list as CEO of the charity but did not have permission to later use the list for political purposes.

The Mission Continues says it's been cooperating with an investigation by Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who announced Tuesday that he had referred Greitens for potential criminal prosecution.

Hawley says there is probable cause to believe Greitens took a computer list of top donors to the charity he founded and used it to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign in 2015. He says it's up to the St. Louis prosecutor to decide whether to charge Greitens.

A spokeswoman for Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner says St. Louis prosecutors met with officials from the attorney general's office on Monday, and are reviewing evidence. Spokeswoman Susan Ryan declined further comment.

House Minority Leader Gail McCann Beatty is also calling for Greitens’ resignation.

She said Greitens should resign to spare Missouri residents the ordeal of impeachment. If he doesn't step down, she says the House should immediately act to remove him.

Greitens said allegations that he potentially the broke law by using the donor list for his campaign are ``ridiculous.''

Greitens already faces a felony invasion-of-privacy charge in St. Louis for allegedly taking and transmitting a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom Greitens said he had an extramarital affair.
Greitens issued a statement Tuesday saying he won't resign.