"He resigned under the weight of his own actions."
Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit
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You might love what Gov. Eric Greitens has done for our state in terms of policy, or you might hate the way he's governed. You might find his personality repulsive, or you might believe he's affable and charming.
However, hopefully, we all can agree that what led to Greitens' downfall was not a "political witch hunt," as he called it. He was not an innocent victim caught up in a whirlwind of jealous politicians, looking to further their political careers by using him as a stepping stone.
It wasn't the Democrats that caused his downfall, nor was it the Republicans. It wasn't a "reckless liberal prosecutor" or Attorney General Josh Hawley or the House special committee investigating Greitens.
Likewise, his undoing wasn't orchestrated by his former hairdresser with whom he had an affair in 2015.
Greitens - and Greitens alone - sowed the seeds that led to his own political demise. His own actions backed him into a corner, and even some of the best defense attorneys in the state couldn't give him any other viable alternatives to resignation.
His resignation came hours after Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem ruled he would have to turn over documents from his campaign and from A New Missouri to the House committee investigating the governor. A New Missouri is a dark money committee - one designed to shield the identity of Greitens' donors.
The House committee was investigating allegations that, in 2015, Greitens stole the donor list from a charity he started to solicit donations that would seed his gubernatorial campaign. He also has been accused of invasion of privacy relating to his affair.
As of now, he hasn't been found guilty of anything in a court of law. However, credible evidence has surfaced suggesting these are more than wild allegations. Meanwhile, Greitens has refused to answer questions that could help establish his innocence.
It's such secrecy that has been the hallmark of his short term as governor. He has rarely answered questions or explained to Missourians how he has governed and why he has made the decisions that affect our lives. He has used dark money to hide his donors, and Confide apps to hide his communications.
All these things would be fine under some forms of government, but not a democracy.
He did the right thing by resigning. Unfortunately, his resignation came too late. It was too late to limit damage to his own party, and to fellow Republican Josh Hawley's chances to unseat U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat.
His resignation speech included no admission of wrongdoing, and no apology to his own party or to Missourians in general. Instead, he continued to label himself the victim.
"It's clear that for the forces that oppose us there is no end in sight," he said. "I cannot allow those forces to continue to cause pain and difficulty to the people that I love."
We have no doubt that those people he refers to have suffered greatly, and that truly saddens us. Hopefully, his resignation did not come too late to heal those relationships.
We're also sad for our state, and for the more than 1.4 million voters who trusted Greitens enough to send him to the highest elected office in our state.
Hopefully, the healing can now begin for us all.