Republican Missouri House members announced Monday a committee will further investigate felony invasion of privacy allegations against Governor Eric Greitens and determine whether or not he should face impeachment proceedings.
Representative Jay Barnes (R-Jefferson City) will chair the House committee, which will be made up of five Republicans and two Democrats.
If the committee finds that Greitens is guilty of wrongdoing and should face impeachment, proceedings will then move to the full House chamber.
At least 82 of the 163 House members would need to vote to impeach Greitens for the proceedings to move forward to the Senate.
During a press conference Monday, Rep. Barnes did not offer a timetable on the investigation and said it will take time to gather facts.
Shortly after the announcement of the special House committee, two Republican House members held a separate press conference calling on Governor Eric Greitens to resign.
Representative Marsha Haefner (R-Oakville) and Representative Shamed Dogan (R-Ballwin) said a petition calling for the resignation had been signed by a dozen lawmakers.
Governor Eric Greitens was not at the Missouri State Capitol on Monday.
His staff said the governor was meeting with families in Malden impacted by a weekend tornado.
The indictment against Greitens stems from allegations that he took a nude picture of a woman he was having an affair with in St. Louis is 2015.
The indictment alleges that Greitens used the picture to threaten the woman to keep quiet about the affair.
In response to the allegations, Greitens has called the indictment a “misguided political decision” and accused St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who announced the indictment, of being a “reckless liberal prosecutor”.
