The ex-wife of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens says the U.S. Senate candidate was violent toward her and their children, accusing him in a sworn statement of "cuffing" their then 3-year-old across the face, yanking him by his hair and knocking her down.
The allegations, made by Sheena Greitens in court papers filed Monday in an ongoing child custody dispute, rocked the Missouri Senate race and added to the litany of misconduct allegations against Greitens, who resigned in 2018 after he was accused of sexually violent and non-consensual behavior.
All of Greitens' Republican opponents, as well as Democratic candidates, swiftly called on him to drop out.
The fresh allegations add to the cloud of scandal that has hung over Greitens' attempt at a political comeback and immediately pushed his personal behavior — and fitness for office — to the forefront of the race.
The court documents paint a portrait of a woman who, as Missouri's first lady and a distinguished East Asia scholar, was the victim of domestic violence. They describe a former governor working to keep his ex-wife silent and in line by threatening to wield his continuing influence.
Sheena Greitens alleges in an affidavit dated March 15 that in June 2018 she became afraid for her safety and the safety of their two children — now 7 and 5 — because of his "unstable and coercive behavior."
"This behavior included physical violence toward our children, such as cuffing our then three-year-old son across the face at the dinner table in front of me and yanking him around by his hair," the affidavit says.
In late April 2018, she alleges, the then-governor "knocked me down and confiscated my cell phone, wallet, and keys so that I was unable to call for help or extricate myself and our children from our home at Innsbrook, Missouri."
Sheena Greitens, an associate professor at the University of Texas-Austin, alleges Eric Greitens later told her mother that "he did so to prevent me from doing anything that might damage his political career."
Greitens' campaign released a statement attacking Sheena Greitens, saying she was "engaged in a last-ditch attempt to vindictively destroy her ex-husband." It called him a "great Dad" and, in an extraordinarily personal charge, commented on her mental health history.
"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," the statement said. "This attack is nothing more than a sad attempt to force a father to yield custody of his children to a deranged individual."
The Associated Press first reported on the court documents Monday.
The documents are part of an effort by Sheena Greitens to move the child custody case out of Missouri and into Texas court. She says the children attend school in Texas, their social lives are centered there and, in alleging domestic violence, says Texas courts are better situated to protect her and the children.
New condemnations of Greitens soon followed.
"I'm extremely troubled by the new allegations of abuse by Eric Greitens from his ex-wife," Rep. Vicky Hartzler said. "This is a pattern of criminal behavior that makes Eric unfit to hold any public office. He should drop out of the U.S. Senate race immediately and seek immediate professional help."
Hartzler, a Republican, has been quick to criticize Greitens, who is seen as the front-runner in the crowded GOP primary to replace U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt. Her first ad included a reference to his affair with his hairdresser and she has said she would not support him in the general election if he were the Republican nominee.
The Senate race appears to favor Republicans, but some polls have shown Greitens would have a tough time defeating a Democrat in a general election matchup. That's led to a furious effort by Greitens' GOP opponents to defeat him and to explicitly warn that Greitens jeopardizes the party's control of the seat.
Similar allegations made in a custody dispute against Sean Parnell, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, caused him to suspend his campaign.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who endorsed Hartzler, also called on Greitens to leave the race. While he was among Republicans who called on Greitens to resign from office in 2018, he had previously been reluctant to criticize Greitens' candidacy for U.S. Senate.
Lucas Kunce, a Democratic Senate candidate, said Greitens "should be in prison." So did Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt, another candidate. St. Louis Attorney Mark McCloskey said Greitens should immediately withdraw. Democratic candidate Scott Sifton also called on Greitens to leave the race.
State Sen. Dave Schatz, the Missouri Senate president pro tem, said on Twitter that in light of "today's evidence showing a long pattern of abuse against his wife and children," he should end his campaign.
After originally saying he wouldn't tell Greitens what to do, Rep. Billy Long changed course a few hours later, after he said he read the affidavit. He joined the other candidates calling for Greitens to get out of the race.
"Like most of America, I'm shocked and appalled by what was in Sheena Greitens' sworn affidavit about Eric Greitens," Long said. "He is clearly unfit to represent the state of Missouri in the U.S. Senate. There's no way he can stay in the race."
In 2018, allegations surfaced that Greitens had taken a compromising photo of his hairdresser during an extra-marital affair. An investigation by the Republican-controlled General Assembly also revealed allegations of sexually violent behavior, including that Greitens tied a woman to a pull-up bar in his basement and later forced her to perform oral sex on him.
Greitens denied those allegations but ultimately left office on June 1, 2018, as lawmakers appeared willing to impeach him.
In the affidavit, Sheena Greitens alleges Eric Greitens, in January 2021, admitted to her that he had taken the photo that led to an invasion of privacy indictment against him during the 2018 scandal.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner dropped the charge against him in May 2018. An investigator on the case was later charged with perjury, accused of lying in a deposition about his interview with a woman who had an affair with Greitens. That case remains ongoing.
Sheena Greitens alleges that after Eric Greitens admitted taking the photo, he said she would be exposed to "legal jeopardy" if she ever told anyone, even family members or a therapist. Sheena Greitens said she believed him because of the extent of his influence in Missouri.
The affidavit says Eric Greitens in spring and early summer 2018 repeatedly threatened to kill himself unless Sheena Greitens provided him with "specific public political support" and that multiple people intervened to limit his access to firearms at least three times — in February, April and May 2018.
Eric Greitens ordered Sheena Greitens to destroy emails she had sent to a therapist seeking help with his escalating behavior, according to the affidavit. It says he made the command when he was with their children but she was not — "a fact that he reminded me of," the affidavit says.
"I have privately entreated Eric to stop introducing false and misleading information about our marriage and divorce into the public in his quest for political office, due to the adverse impact on our children and on my job as a professor of public policy," the affidavit says.
"Eric has refused and called my request 'emotional abuse.'"
