A secretive group supporting Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens must turn over documents subpoenaed by a legislative committee trying to determine whether to bring impeachment proceedings against the Republican governor, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ordered the pro-Greitens group A New Missouri to immediately begin turning over documents and to finish doing so by Friday. The order also applies to documents sought from Greitens' campaign committee related to A New Missouri.
A special Missouri House committee has been investigating a variety of allegations against Greitens, including sexual misconduct and misuse of a charity donor list for his political campaign. The subpoenas related to A New Missouri focus on alleged efforts to conceal donations used to benefit Greitens.
A New Missouri is a 501c4 social welfare nonprofit that doesn't have to disclose the identities of its donors. The organization, which was created shortly after Greitens took office in 2017, has spent money on behalf of Greitens and his policy goals, including making contributions to other groups supporting a right-to-work law Greitens signed that limited union powers.
Beetem ordered compliance with subpoena requests for any communications and documents showing potential coordination between Greitens, his campaign committee and A New Missouri; and communications and expenditures by A New Missouri related to media advertising.
The judge said the identities of any donors to A New Missouri could be redacted from the documents.
Missouri House attorney Mark Kempton has said the legislative subpoenas are trying to "get to the bottom of whether or not there have been any campaign contribution violations."
Catherine Hanaway, an attorney for both for Greitens' campaign and A New Missouri, had argued that the subpoena requests were beyond the scope of the committee's investigation.