Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, attended the Tuesday press conference held by Tim Parlatore, the attorney for Missouri GOP Senate hopeful Eric Greitens, about how Republican establishment mandarin Karl Rove worked with the hopeful’s ex-wife Sheena Greitens as she crafted an affidavit that claimed her ex-husband was abusive.
Parlatore told reporters in front of Washington’s Prettyman Federal Courthouse that this new affidavit, notarized March 14, 2022, contradicts her May 15, 2020 affidavit, sworn as she was finalizing her divorce.
When two affidavits conflict, one of them must be false, and that is evidence of perjury, the lawyer said. If it can be proven that Rove facilitated the ex-wife’s second affidavit, which Parlatore said is the false affidavit, then Rove is also guilty of a crime.
The lawyer said Greitens believes that his ex-wife is a victim of political operators, and so are his children, so he is not looking to retaliate against her.
TRANSCRIPT
McCabe: In the latest effort by the Republican Party leadership to block conservative Eric Greitens from winning the vacant Missouri senate seat, Karl Rove and other establishment operatives have manipulated the former Navy SEAL’s ex-wife into the race.
Parlatore: What happened here is that political operatives took advantage of a woman who was going through an emotional divorce.
McCabe: Greitens’attorney Tim Parlatore told reporters in front of Washington’s Prettyman Federal Courthouse if Karl Rove coached the ex-wife Sheena Greitens into perjuring herself, he also committed a crime.
At issue is that the ex-wife signed two affidavits, one in May 2020 swearing that she had told the court everything related to the dissolution of her marriage.
Then Parlatore said Rove helped her construct a new affidavit, notarized March 14th, claiming that Greitens was abusive to her. Two conflicting affidavits mean one of them is a lie, the lawyer said.
Parlatore: Karl Rove has admitted that he spoke with Sheena Greitens about this. Karl Rove has called donors before this was filed to tell them “back away from Eric Greitens.”
After communicating with Karl Rove at the most, you know, sensitive time, during a primary campaign, all of a sudden she filed something that’s completely counter to her own past affidavit statements.
McCabe: Parlatore said Eric Greitens just wants the politics of pain to stop.
Parlatore: The kids are the victims here. The family is the victim here. Sheena Greitens is a victim here. But Eric Greitens is not going to contribute to that victimhood by trying to respond in kind.
McCabe: It is the policy of the Republican leadership to block conservatives from safe senate seats like this one vacated by moderate Roy Blunt. If this scheme fails to knock out Greitens, what will they do next?
Parlatore: If you can file false affidavits and hurt somebody just to get them to withdraw from the campaign, is that really the precedent we want to set?
McCabe: Reporting for The Star News Network, Neil W. McCabe, Washington.
