Timeline of investigation of Missouri governor's charity

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley believes there is ample evidence to pursue felony charges against fellow Republican Gov. Eric Greitens for using a veterans' charity donor list for political purposes. Greitens, who founded the charity The Mission Continues, responded with a statement calling the allegations "ridiculous."

A look at some key moments in the investigation of Greitens and the charity:

August 2007: Greitens, a former Navy SEAL officer, founds the charity The Mission Continues in St. Louis. The nonprofit provides grants for veterans to work in temporary fellowships at other charitable organizations as a way to serve their communities and develop skills that can lead to jobs. The charity originally was named The Center for Citizen Leadership.

July 2014: Greitens steps down as CEO of The Mission Continues.

February 2015: Greitens creates an exploratory political committee and begins raising money for his gubernatorial campaign.

August 2016: Greitens wins a tough, four-person race for the Republican nomination for governor.

October 2016: The Associated Press reports that Greitens' campaign had obtained an electronic spreadsheet of top donors to The Mission Continues as he began his campaign in 2015. An AP analysis found his campaign raised nearly $2 million from donors who previously gave significant amounts to The Mission Continues. Greitens denies using the charity donor list for political purposes.

November 2016: Greitens defeats Democrat Chris Koster to win the gubernatorial election.

April 2017: Greitens agrees to pay a small fine the Missouri Ethics Commission for failing to report that his gubernatorial campaign had, in fact, received the donor list of The Mission Continues in 2015. Greitens' campaign amends its finance reports to show the donor list as a $600 in-kind contribution received March 1, 2015, from Danny Laub, who was listed as Greitens' campaign manager at the time.

Jan. 10: Shortly after delivering his State of the State speech to the Legislature, Greitens admits to having an extramarital affair with his St. Louis hairdresser in 2015. He calls it a personal mistake. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, a Democrat, launches an investigation.

Feb. 22: A St. Louis grand jury indicts Greitens on one felony count of invasion of privacy related to the affair. Greitens is accused of taking and transmitting an unauthorized photo of the woman while she was partially nude, bound and blindfolded in the basement of his home in March 2015. He denies criminal wrongdoing.

Feb. 27: The St. Louis-Post Dispatch reports that it obtained an email showing a Greitens Group employee had sent the charity donor list to Laub and fellow campaign staffer Michael Hafner in January 2015.

March 1: The AP reports that Greitens had used an email address for The Mission Continues to arrange political meetings in January 2015 as he prepared to launch his gubernatorial bid, despite a federal ban on nonprofits participating in political campaigns. Hawley confirms through a spokeswoman that his office is investigating the charity.

April 11: A special Missouri House committee issues a report on Greitens' extramarital affair. In it, the woman testifies that Greitens restrained, slapped, threatened, grabbed and shoved her during a series of sexual encounters that at times left her crying and afraid. Calls grow for Greitens to resign, including from Hawley and Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, whom Hawley is seeking to unseat. Greitens says he's being subjected to a "political witch hunt."

April 17: Hawley says his investigation found probable cause to believe Greitens took a donor list without the permission of The Mission Continues and used it for his gubernatorial campaign. He refers the case to Gardner for a potential felony charge of tampering with computer data. He also refers the matter to the House investigatory committee that will be recommending whether to impeach Greitens.