Senate Candidate’s Ex-Wife Accuses Him of Abuse

The previous spouse of Eric Greitens, a number one Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, has accused him of home violence, saying in courtroom paperwork that he knocked her down and confiscated her keys, telephone and pockets throughout an argument in 2018.

The allegations have been detailed in paperwork filed as half of a kid custody dispute between Mr. Greitens, an acolyte of former President Donald J. Trump, and his former partner, Sheena Greitens.

The couple have been divorced in Could 2020, coming into right into a joint parenting association by means of the courtroom. They’ve two younger sons.

In a 41-page affidavit filed on Monday in Boone County Circuit Courtroom in Missouri, Dr. Greitens, an affiliate professor on the College of Texas at Austin, accused her former husband of “unstable and coercive conduct.” Mr. Greitens’s marketing campaign denied the accusations in a press release on Monday.

Dr. Greitens mentioned that among the abuse occurred when Mr. Greitens grew to become mired in a collection of scandals that led to his resignation as governor in 2018.

The brand new accusations, which have been reported by The Related Press, cloud a political comeback by Mr. Greitens. One current ballot confirmed Mr. Greitens, 47, a former Navy SEAL who was as soon as seen as a rising star within the Republican Occasion, main a crowded Republican Senate subject in Missouri. The end result of the competition may decide which celebration emerges from the midterm election in charge of the chamber.

“Previous to our divorce, throughout an argument in late April 2018, Eric knocked me down and confiscated my cellular phone, pockets, and keys in order that I used to be unable to name for assist or extricate myself and our kids from our dwelling at Innsbrook, Missouri,” Dr. Greitens mentioned within the affidavit.

Mr. Greitens’s conduct “included bodily violence towards our kids,” Dr. Greitens mentioned, “equivalent to cuffing our then three-year-old son throughout the face on the dinner desk in entrance of me and yanking him round by his hair.”

Dr. Greitens, 39, mentioned that the violence intensified to the purpose that she had begged Mr. Greitens to inform her the place he was storing a firearm he bought in January 2018.

“Within the spring and early summer season of 2018, Eric repeatedly threatened to kill himself until I offered particular public political assist to him,” she mentioned.

In a press release launched on Monday, Mr. Greitens’s marketing campaign denied the allegations and mentioned that they have been politically motivated.

Dr. Greitens, the marketing campaign’s assertion mentioned, “is engaged in a last-ditch try to vindictively destroy her ex-husband.”

A lawyer for Dr. Greitens didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Monday. The Missouri Republican Occasion additionally didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, referred to as on Mr. Greitens to stop the race on Monday.

“When you hit a girl or a baby, you belong in handcuffs, not the US Senate,” Mr. Hawley said on Twitter. “It’s time for Eric Greitens to depart this race.”

In Could 2018, Mr. Greitens resigned as Missouri’s governor greater than 4 months right into a scandal involving a sexual relationship along with his former hairdresser and claims that he had taken an specific {photograph} of her with out her permission. He was additionally accused by prosecutors of misusing his charity’s donor listing for political functions.

In March 2021, Mr. Greitens introduced that he was mounting a political comeback and would run for the seat being vacated by Roy Blunt, the No. 4 Senate Republican, who selected to not search re-election. On the time, Mr. Greitens contended that he had been “exonerated” by investigators and had resigned just for the sake of his household.

Hannah Norton contributed reporting.