A bi-partisan House committee has been named to investigate the facts surrounding the indictment of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens. 

The committee, named Monday, has five Republicans and two Democrats and will be chaired by Rep. Jay Barnes, a Jefferson City Republican and attorney.

“This committee’s task is going to be to investigate the facts,” Barnes said in a news conference Monday afternoon. “We’re going to do so in a way that is fair, thorough and timely, and we’re going to do it without being preordained to the results.”

The results could wind up with Missouri’s first impeachment of a sitting governor.

Gov. Greitens was indicted last Thursday by 12 members of a St. Louis County grand jury on felony charges of invasion of privacy when he threatened a woman with blackmail to cover up a 2015 affair. Greitens has admitted to having the affair, with his former hair dresser, but has vehemently denied charges of blackmail.

Members of the Missouri Senate, Republican and Democrat, including Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, have called for Greitens to resign.

Members of the Missouri House of Representatives, stating that they could be responsible for impeachment hearings, have mostly said they will abide by the process and not comment on guilt or innocence before an impeachment trial.

District 50 State Rep. Sara Walsh, of Ashland, told the Journal she would not make any other statements other than that released by house leadership.

However, on Facebook, Walsh noted it was too early to say whether or not the governor would be impeached. Or should resign.

“Unlike a number of my respected colleagues in the Missouri General Assembly, I believe it is premature to offer an opinion on whether Governor Greitens should go, simply because I respect the legal and House processes to hear the evidence needed to make such a weighty decision,” Walsh wrote. ‘

However, Walsh did everything but throw support to Greitens when she noted he is moving forward.

~ Get the whole story in today’s Journal ~

By Bruce Wallace