The woman at the center of the whirlwind invasion of privacy case against Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens spoke publicly for the first time Monday night, saying she wants "to move on" from this "most difficult, crazy fight."
Known only as "K.S." via court documents, the woman who engaged in an extramarital affair with the embattled governor spoke in person with St. Louis' KSDK news anchorman Casey Nolen.
Even with the made-for-tv courtroom subplots and political drama, there's a big part of the story we haven't heard yet...
Hers.
The former mistress and subject of @EricGreitens invasion of privacy charge speaks exclusively to @CaseyNolen tonight on @ksdknews at 10pm. pic.twitter.com/KupzI5hNQ9
-- Abby Llorico KSDK (@AbbyLlorico) May 21, 2018
Without showing her face, K.S. detailed the pain and turmoil she has endured since the news of the affair became public in January:
"I'm in the middle of the most difficult, crazy fight that I didn't ask to be apart of," K.S. told Nolen. "I feel like I'm this easy punching bag, yet I haven't thrown any punches."
K.S., who had been Greitens' hairdresser, maintained that she never wanted the story of the affair to become public. But she was forced to cooperate once her husband shared his recording of her telling him about the incidents.
Greitens is accused of snapping a photograph of the woman, bound and partly nude, without her consent in 2015 and threatening to use it against her.
"I didn't dream it up," she said, referring to accusations from Greitens' attorneys calling her testimony to lawmakers "dreams or visions."
Greitens was indicted on felony invasion of privacy charges in February. Those charges were dropped last week by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner in the face of the defense team's plan to call her as a witness. On Monday, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker was appointed as a special prosecutor. Baker will decide whether to re-file charges.
K.S. maintains that the details of the affair -- including accusations that the sexual encounter between the two was not consensual -- are true:
"The only ethical thing I could do was tell the truth," she told Nolen.
Asked what she might say to Greitens' wife, Sheena Greitens, K.S. responded emphatically: "I would absolutely apologize."
K.S. had previously detailed the affair and the alleged invasion of privacy when she testified under oath in April to a Missouri House committee. Lawmakers released a 25-page report and transcripts of testimony.
"It's hard to talk about then and it's hard to talk about now," K.S. said on Monday.
"I'm not lying. I want to move on. I want to heal."
(c)2018 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)
