Politically Speaking: Standing on the edge of Gov. Greitens' invasion of privacy trial

St. Louis Public Radio | By Jason Rosenbaum,

Rachel Lippmann, Marshall Griffin, Jo Mannies

Published May 11, 2018 at 4:25 PM CDT

St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Rex Burlison speaks with a reporter as St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts escorts him into the courthouse on May 10, 2018.

On the latest edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum, Rachel Lippmann, Marshall Griffin and Jo Mannies break down all of the developments this week in Gov. Eric Greitens’ political and legal saga.

This week’s episode gives a preview of the governor’s felony invasion of privacy trial, which is slated to get started next week. We also get an update on whether legislators will impeach the governor — and the status of Greitens’ second felony charge for computer data tampering.

Jury selection for Greitens’ trial began on Thursday. It was still going on when this podcast was posted. The jury is expected to be set, at this point, on Tuesday. And that means opening arguments will begin on Wednesday.

Greitens is accused of taking a semi-nude photo of a woman without her consent — and placing it in a position to be electronically transmitted. But St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner doesn’t have the photo she says Greitens took. In fact on Friday, Greitens’ attorney, Jim Martin, said an examination of 16,000 photos and videos on the governor’s phone turned up nothing.

Without a photo, Gardner will need to count on the woman at the center of the case to testify. She’s never spoken publicly since the scandal broke in January.

Here’s what else we talked about on the show:

What constitutes “transmission” of a photo, the thing required to make what Greitens is accused of a felony.
The guidelines St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison set out for the media to cover the trial.
What attorneys are looking for when choosing a jury for Greitens’ trial.
How lawmakers are planning to arrange a special session for Greitens’ possible impeachment.
A review of Mannies and Rosenbaum’s interviewwith GOP political consultant Michael Hafner.

Follow Jason on Twitter:@jrosenbaum

Follow Rachel on Twitter:@rlippmann

Follow Marshall on Twitter:@MarshallGReport

Follow Jo on Twitter:@jmannies

Music: “Treefingers” and “In Limbo” by Radio

Jason Rosenbaum

Since entering the world of professional journalism in 2006, Jason Rosenbaum dove head first into the world of politics, policy and even rock and roll music. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Rosenbaum spent more than four years in the Missouri State Capitol writing for the Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri Lawyers Media and the St. Louis Beacon. Since moving to St. Louis in 2010, Rosenbaum's work appeared in Missouri Lawyers Media, the St. Louis Business Journal and the Riverfront Times' music section. He also served on staff at the St. Louis Beacon as a politics reporter. Rosenbaum lives in Richmond Heights with with his wife Lauren and their two sons.

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Rachel Lippmann

Lippmann returned to her native St. Louis after spending two years covering state government in Lansing, Michigan. She earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and followed (though not directly) in Maria Altman's footsteps in Springfield, also earning her graduate degree in public affairs reporting. She's also done reporting stints in Detroit, Michigan and Austin, Texas. Rachel likes to fill her free time with good books, good friends, good food, and good baseball.

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Marshall Griffin

St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.

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Jo Mannies

Jo Mannies has been covering Missouri politics and government for almost four decades, much of that time as a reporter and columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the first woman to cover St. Louis City Hall, was the newspaper’s second woman sportswriter in its history, and spent four years in the Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau. She joined the St. Louis Beacon in 2009. She has won several local, regional and national awards, and has covered every president since Jimmy Carter. She scared fellow first-graders in the late 1950s when she showed them how close Alaska was to Russia and met Richard M. Nixon when she was in high school. She graduated from Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, and was the daughter of a high school basketball coach. She is married and has two grown children, both lawyers. She’s a history and movie buff, cultivates a massive flower garden, and bakes banana bread regularly for her colleagues.

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