FBI briefed on allegations against Missouri Gov. Greitens

Attorney Al Watkins testifies before the House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight on Thursday, May 24, 2018.
Attorney Al Watkins testifies before the House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight on Thursday, May 24, 2018.

Previous coverage of Greitens investigations

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Al Watkins and Scott Faughn agree: Faughn gave Watkins $120,000 in cash payments at the beginning of this year.

But in their separate appearances before the state House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight this week, they differed significantly in why those payments were made and the source behind them.

House Speaker Todd Richardson formed the committee three months ago to determine facts about Gov. Eric Greitens' legal situation, days after a St. Louis grand jury indicted the governor on a felony charge of invasion of privacy, for a March 2015 incident in the basement of his St. Louis home, involving Greitens' hairdresser.

During the Legislature's 30-day special session that began last Friday, the committee also has been told to recommend whether the full House should impeach Greitens and seek to remove him from office.

Watkins, a St. Louis lawyer who represents the woman's now-ex-husband, testified for three hours Thursday morning, telling the committee Faughn, publisher of the Missouri Times and host of a weekly television show on Missouri politics, gave him the $120,000 in four cash payments - with three delivered personally and one, the second of the four, delivered by a man Watkins didn't know but presumed to be a courier.

"I have been able to confirm that the first payment was Jan. 8, 2018," he said. It was for $50,000, and was delivered by Faughn.

"The second payment was made, in the amount of $50,000, in cash form, on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018," and was delivered by someone else, he added.

Faughn said Wednesday it was delivered by one of his employees from the office of his Clayton Times newspaper.

Watkins said: "Both of those payments were understood by me - by virtue of what was told to me by Mr. Faughn, expressly - that the source of those two payments was a 'wealthy Republican whose relationship (with) the governor was personal' - which I interpreted to mean, there was an axe to grind."

When Watkins first told Faughn it would cost $100,000 for the recordings, he said Faughn replied, "I think I can do that."

Watkins said Faughn never identified the "wealthy Republican," but denied former Democratic Party chair Roy Temple was involved.

Faughn told the committee Wednesday the money was his own, and he didn't remember telling Watkins anything about an out-of-state Republican donor being the source of the money.

Watkins said the $100,000 was used to pay some of the legal expenses for the ex-husband "and give him a 'soft landing'" because of the media storm that was going to hit when the story of Greitens' affair became public.

Faughn testified Wednesday he paid for recordings of conversations between the woman and her ex-husband - secretly recorded by him while they still were married and only a few days after her first encounter with Greitens - so Faughn could have their information as he writes a book about Missouri politics over the past three years.

Watkins said there had been a discussion with Faughn about that, but it came later - not during the initial talks.

Faughn said he had several contacts with Watkins before, while Watkins said he first met Faughn on Jan. 8.

The ex-husband was the source of the original allegations against Greitens, because of the recordings of the woman's confession about her first sexual encounter with the then-future governor.

Watkins said the husband originally was angry and ready to "kill" Greitens because, with "his wife compromised and his marriage compromised by a man of such power that he feared for his life." However, by the time he hired Watkins in September 2016, six months after their divorce was finalized, the husband's goal "was to suppress this story, keep it out of the public eye and do what had to be done to put my client in a position where he was safe and secure."

When Temple approached Watkins, twice, seeking confirmation of rumors he'd heard about the affair - in advance of the 2016 general elections - Watkins said the husband wouldn't confirm it.

In January or February 2017, Watkins said, he gave a copy of the ex-husband's recordings to the FBI "pursuant to their request," but otherwise held on to them.

That changed in December 2017, he said, when the husband's step-daughter received a call from a reporter asking for details about the affair.

"Our strategy was to make as much noise as possible," Watkins explained, "to make sure that this story got out on, or shortly before, the State of the State address" on Jan. 10, 2018.

He contacted several media outlets in the St. Louis area, but they declined to run a story because neither the wife or husband would confirm it.

When the governor confirmed he'd had an affair, KMOV-TV, St. Louis, reported the story, complete with audio from the recordings and an interview with the husband.

Watkins said he gave a copy of the recordings to Faughn earlier that week, confident Faughn couldn't use them before the KMOV report was broadcast.

Watkins testified Faughn made two additional payments of $10,000 each - also in cash - for legal fees after Faughn hired Watkins, and for helping Watkins' family leave the St. Louis area for awhile after there "was a credible act of intimidation to my family," which Watkins declined to provide more details of.

He said he contacted the FBI and his own bank because of the large amount of cash.

"I wanted to make sure it wasn't dirty money, drug money (or) money from ill-gotten gains," Watkins said.

He "would have preferred a check," Watkins said, while Faughn said Wednesday he'd been told Watkins wanted cash.

Overall, Watkins said, he wasn't trying to sell the woman's story and had turned down a cash offer from the Daily Mirror newspaper.

He's never spoken with the woman, nor given her money, Watkins testified.

Several times during the three-hour interview, Watkins and Barnes - or in some cases another committee member - talked over each other in heated exchanges about questions asked or what some saw as Watkins' efforts to avoid answering them.

In the end, Watkins told the committee members he respected their work and that they have "a daunting task ahead of you" in considering whether Greitens should be impeached.

Greitens' attorneys used Thursday's hearing to, again, complain they aren't being allowed to cross-examine the committee's witnesses.

"The problem we've had all along is that there was a $100,000 anonymous cash payment to an important witness in the case against the governor," lawyer Ed Dowd said, "and we still don't know who was behind this effort.

"It makes you wonder what kind of corruption was involved."

The committee's rules allow only for questioning by its members.