Now here’s some genuinely surprising news out of Missouri: Governor Eric Greitens, who has for months been trying to fight off accusations of wrongdoing ranging from horrifying sexual misconduct to violations of campaign finance law, has at last chosen to bow out of public life with a modicum of grace: The governor announced his resignation Tuesday, five months after he was first pitched into scandal over accusations that he had taken a nude photograph of his mistress without her consent. He will be succeeded on June 1 by Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson.
In his press conference breaking the news, Greitens, who was facing impeachment in the Missouri legislature as well as a bevy of criminal charges, took one final whack at everyone involved. “This ordeal has been designed to cause an incredible amount of strain on my family,” Greittens said. “Traveling the state, I have talked to many of you who harbor extraordinary anger at this ordeal and for those who have pushed and promoted it. For those who would be moved to vengeance, let us allow history and God to bring justice.” Coming from Greitens, who has for months attempted to smear Republican and Democratic investigators alike as incompetent partisan witch hunters, this was almost magnanimous.
