ICYMI: *NEW* Legal Filing Creates Questions about Links Between Greitens’ Criminal Case & Hawley’s Confide Investigation

The more Missourians learn about Josh Hawley’s sham investigation into the governor’s use of an encrypted texting app, the more questions emerge. Not only did Hawley provide the governor a copy of his findings before the public, but he never actually interviewed the governor and allowed the governor’s attorney to sit in and monitor staff interviews conducted during the investigation – causing six former state attorneys, including two judges, to blast the investigation as “half-hearted” and “unbelievable.”

Now, we learn that Hawley has “at all times been aware” of a conflict of interest in the same law firm representing the governor in both cases.

Kansas City Star: Friday’s filing from prosecutors has the effect of linking the criminal case to the controversy surrounding Hawley’s investigation into the governor’s use of Confide… Hawley, the GOP frontrunner in the U.S. Senate race, has been dogged by questions after his investigation found no wrongdoing.

From Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Spokesman David Bergstein: “This scandal is the latest piece of evidence that Josh Hawley will do anything to climb the political ladder. Hawley, who took nearly $50,000 from the governor during his campaign for attorney general, needs to explain why he’s more interested in protecting his fellow Republican politician and donor than doing his job. One thing is clear: Missourians can’t trust Hawley.”

Kansas City Star: Prosecutors seek to disqualify Greitens’ defense team ahead of his felony trial
By Lindsay Wise, Jason Hancock, and Bryan Lowry
March 23, 2018

Key Points:

• The St. Louis circuit attorney’s office on Friday asked the court to disqualify the defense lawyers for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens in his felony invasion of privacy case because of a conflict of interest.
  • From January through March 12… Dowd Bennett was representing the state of Missouri in a Cole County lawsuit over the governor and his staff’s use of Confide, an app that automatically destroys text messages. At the same time, he said, the firm was representing Greitens in a criminal investigation in which the governor’s use of private message apps “plays a key role.”
• The motion reveals that prosecutors think Greitens used Confide, Signal or similar apps that can automatically delete text messages “to engage in criminal behavior” as alleged in the felony indictment.
• Before the firm’s withdrawal [in the Confide case], Dowd Bennett attorneys had “access to all of the State’s resources and knowledge about Confide,” Sullivan argues in Friday’s motion. At the same time — from January 2018 through March 12, 2018 — Dowd Bennett also represented the governor against the state in the criminal case stemming from Greitens’ extramarital affair, Sullivan says. “This by itself is grounds for disqualification,” Sullivan writes.
• Dowd said in a statement that the firm consulted with Attorney General Josh Hawley in January about how to avoid a conflict between the two cases.
• The very fact that Dowd Bennett withdrew from the Confide lawsuit indicates the firm understood the existence of a conflict of interest and the inability to satisfy ethical obligations to both clients, Sullivan states.
• Friday’s filing from prosecutors has the effect of linking the criminal case to the controversy surrounding Hawley’s investigation into the governor’s use of Confide… Hawley, the GOP frontrunner in the U.S. Senate race, has been dogged by questions after his investigation found no wrongdoing. He confirmed Friday that he was coordinating with the circuit attorney’s office when appropriate as he conducts a separate investigation into the governor’s charity.
• Hawley’s investigation into Greitens’ use of Confide ended with a determination that there was no evidence of wrongdoing, in part because there was no evidence. The attorney general’s office lacks subpoena power in Sunshine Law investigations, and thus, the probe relied mostly on interviews with eight members of Greitens’ staff. The governor was not interviewed. The attorney general’s office confirmed that Dowd Bennett’s Gore was present when Greitens’ staff were interviewed.

Read the full article here.

See more:
Kansas City Star editorial: Greitens’ secret texting app has no place in Missouri government
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Editorial: Hawley sees no evil, speaks no evil in Confide probe against Greitens.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Messenger: Lawyer who filed Confide lawsuit takes Hawley to school
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Hawley says he isn’t focused on possible Senate run; his campaign spending hints otherwise
McClatchy: Hawley illegally paid Senate consultants with state campaign funds, Democrats allege
Kansas City Star: Ethics complaint filed against Hawley
Kansas City Star: Hawley’s office defends probe of Greitens’ use of secret texting app
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Democrats called his Greitens probe a ‘sham.’ Now, the investigator is defending himself.
Springfield News-Leader: Hawley’s office didn’t challenge Greitens’ executive privilege claim, fearing backfire
Kansas City Star: Missourians can’t trust Hawley investigation into Greitens’ use of text-destroying app
Springfield News-Leader: Hawley’s office: ‘Not unusual’ that Greitens’ lawyer monitored staff’s Confide interviews.
Jefferson News Tribune: 6 attorneys challenge Hawley’s ‘Confide’ investigation
St. Louis American: Josh Hawley: coastal elitist and ticking Missouri time bomb