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How an investigator, an attorney general and $100,000 in cash affected Greitens’ week

Attorney Al Watkins represents the ex-husband of the woman Greitens had an affair with.  He disclosed this week that his law firm received $100,000 in cash.
File photo I Carolina Hidalgo | St. Louis Public Radio
Attorney Al Watkins represents the ex-husband of the woman Greitens had an affair with. He disclosed this week that his law firm received $100,000 in cash.

On the latest edition of the Politically Speaking podcast, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum, Jo Mannies and Rachel Lippmann review what occurred in the Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens saga.

After two particularly bad weeks, it could be argued that there were rays of light on the legal front for the GOP governor. That’s because an investigator who allegedly made false statements during a depositiontook the Fifth Amendment— which could place critical evidence in jeopardy.

Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising development on the political front was attorney Al Watkins’ disclosure that his firmreceived $100,000 to deal with the falloutfrom Greitens’ admission of an extramarital affair. Watkins represents the ex-husband of the woman with whom Greitens had the affair. The husband ended up breaking that story to KMOV earlier this year.

Other things talked about on this show:

  • How a judge is ordering Watkins to say who gave him the $100,000 — and why it matters who is paying Greitens and Watkins’ legal bills.
  • Greitens’ continuing decision to not to take question from reporters.
  • Where House members stand on considering impeachment.
  • An unsuccessful effort to prevent Attorney General Josh Hawley from getting involved in Greitens’ legal situation.


Lippmann was a guest on St. Louis on the Air on Friday:

Follow Jason on Twitter:@jrosenbaum

Follow Rachel on Twitter:@rlippmann

Follow Jo on Twitter:@jmannies

Music: “Solider Side” by System of a Down

Copyright 2018 St. Louis Public Radio

Since entering the world of professional journalism in 2006, Jason Rosenbaum dove head first into the world of politics, policy and even rock and roll music. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Rosenbaum spent more than four years in the Missouri State Capitol writing for the Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri Lawyers Media and the St. Louis Beacon. Since moving to St. Louis in 2010, Rosenbaum's work appeared in Missouri Lawyers Media, the St. Louis Business Journal and the Riverfront Times' music section. He also served on staff at the St. Louis Beacon as a politics reporter. Rosenbaum lives in Richmond Heights with with his wife Lauren and their two sons.
Jo Mannies has been covering Missouri politics and government for almost four decades, much of that time as a reporter and columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the first woman to cover St. Louis City Hall, was the newspaper’s second woman sportswriter in its history, and spent four years in the Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau. She joined the St. Louis Beacon in 2009. She has won several local, regional and national awards, and has covered every president since Jimmy Carter. She scared fellow first-graders in the late 1950s when she showed them how close Alaska was to Russia and met Richard M. Nixon when she was in high school. She graduated from Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, and was the daughter of a high school basketball coach. She is married and has two grown children, both lawyers. She’s a history and movie buff, cultivates a massive flower garden, and bakes banana bread regularly for her colleagues.
Rachel Lippmann
Lippmann returned to her native St. Louis after spending two years covering state government in Lansing, Michigan. She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and followed (though not directly) in Maria Altman's footsteps in Springfield, also earning her graduate degree in public affairs reporting. She's also done reporting stints in Detroit, Michigan and Austin, Texas. Rachel likes to fill her free time with good books, good friends, good food, and good baseball.