Missouri governor's former mistress: Recollection of blackmail pics could have been a 'dream

Missouri Republican Governor Eric Greitens is currently fighting a felony invasion-of-privacy charge, accused of taking a blackmail photo of his former mistress while she was blindfolded and partially nude. His attorneys are now raising questions about a key allegation at the heart of the case.

The St. Louis circuit attorney, Kim Gardner, launched an investigation of the governor in January, after the release of an audio clip on which the case is based. In the recording, Greitens' former mistress is heard describing the consensual affair to her then-husband.

K.S., as the alleged victim is referred to in court documents, is heard recalling that during a sexual encounter with Greitens, the governor taped her hands and blindfolded her. She then says Greitens "stepped back, I saw a flash through the blindfold and he said: 'you're never going to mention my name, otherwise there will be pictures of (you) everywhere.'"

Her now ex-husband made the recording without K.S's knowledge, and distributed it to media. No complaint against the governor has been filed by the alleged victim.

On Friday, K.S. gave a deposition where she admitted she could not testify under oath that she saw the governor with a phone during the alleged blackmail incident.

After being asked by the prosecution if she saw what she believed to be a phone, K.S. responded: "I haven't talked about it because I don't know if it's because I'm remembering it through a dream or I — I'm not sure, but yes, I feel like I saw it after that happened, but I haven't spoken about it because of that."

In response, the defense filed a motion on Sunday which demands all exculpatory information be released by the prosecution, including the deposition. Greitens' attorneys had also made a prior court filing last week, seeking to question former Democratic Party official Roy Temple about whether he had made any payments to the governor's former mistress, her ex-husband, or her ex-husband's lawyer.

Greitens is a former Navy SEAL who also founded a non-profit veterans' organization, The Mission Continues. The governor was recently cleared in a separate investigation by Missouri's Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley last month, over his use of a cell phone app that erases messages shortly after they're read. But the AG is now currently investigating "the charitable activities of The Mission Continues."