Greitens attorney asks Hawley to recuse himself

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley speaks during a news conference March 23, 2018.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley speaks during a news conference March 23, 2018.

An attorney for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is urging the state's attorney general to recuse his office from an investigation of a veterans charity founded by the governor.

In a letter written Monday and obtained by The Associated Press, attorney Edward L. Dowd Jr. raised concerns over Josh Hawley's comment last week urging Greitens to resign. The letter says Hawley's investigation is "clearly compromised" because he has "predetermined the guilt of his own investigative target."

Hawley's office is investigating The Mission Continues as it relates to the state's consumer protection and charitable registration and reporting laws.

Hawley was among many elected officials urging Greitens' to step down after a report from a special legislative committee on Greitens' extramarital affair with his St. Louis hairdresser in 2015. Testimony cited in the report alleged Greitens was sexually aggressive toward the woman.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office did not immediately comment.