Maybe Nick Ayers just didn't need any more scrutiny

From July:

The chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence discussed soliciting contributions from “restricted donors” while he was advising future Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ 2016 campaign, according to a complaint filed Tuesday with the state’s ethics commission.

The complaint also says that Greitens for Missouri, which Pence chief of staff Nick Ayers advised, “funneled” donations through 501(c)(4) nonprofits, which do not have to reveal donor identities.

One potential donor, according to an email a Missouri House investigative committee obtained, was employed by a company that “manages money for the state of Missouri” — and could thus be barred by federal law from donating to political campaigns.

It is unclear to what extent, if any, Ayers was involved in discussions with that particular donor. But an email from 2015 shows that Ayers was in contact with the Greitens campaign about a “restricted donor.”

The revelation is contained in a 24-page complaint by Rep. Jay Barnes, R-Jefferson City, who led the now-defunct House committee that was collecting evidence to determine if Greitens should be impeached and removed from office.

Greitens, who was enmeshed in multiple scandals and had faced two potential felony court cases that were later dropped, resigned on June 1 after 17 tumultuous months in office.

  St. Louis Today

Hey, he's free to take a position in the White House, and one is open!

Greitens’ whereabouts have been unclear since he moved out of the Governor’s Mansion.

Whoa. Surely he's been found by now.*

Barnes asked the ethics panel to investigate several alleged campaign infractions by Greitens and his campaign. The complaint singles out three close advisers: Ayers, fundraiser Meredith Gibbons and campaign manager Austin Chambers.

[...]

Alyssa Farah, press secretary for Pence, defended Ayers in a statement issued Tuesday evening: “This is a complaint lodged against former clients of Mr. Ayers, who has always complied with federal and state campaign finance laws meticulously, and did so in this instance as well,” Farah said.

Of course.

You remember Greitens: he's the one who tied up a woman in his basement, forced her to perform oral sex and took pictures of her partially naked.

Sexual predators cover each other. Have you been following the Jeffrey Epstein/Alan Dershowitz saga? It connects to Trump, too.

*Holy shit.

This is going to shock you. So brace yourself.

Eric Greitens is taking a look at a political comeback. He’s made phone calls to deep-pocketed donors testing whether they have interest in backing him in another run for Missouri’s top office.

[...]

“Former Gov. Greitens has called at least one donor to test the waters re: a 2020 gubernatorial primary.”

The source: a hedge fund guy in New York City. The former governor also may have made other calls. Smith insists the information is as solid as a block of concrete.

[...]

Details are still scarce about this bit of news, although others close to the governor say that while they aren’t aware of the phone calls, they’re also not the least bit surprised. After all, they say, the notion that someone as driven as Greitens, who’s dreamed about running for president since grade school, is back at it should be expected.

[...]

Not even four months have passed since an assortment of scandals and felony charges cut his ignominious tenure as governor very short.[ed: This report was in this past September.] Facing allegations of criminal wrongdoing, corruption and sexual misconduct, Greitens resigned after just 16 months in office, complaining that he was the victim of a political conspiracy.

Since May, Greitens has disappeared from public view. So, Smith’s pronouncement is pretty intriguing, and that’s what makes it worth sharing. You can take it for what it’s worth.

You also can take former Sen. Smith for what he’s worth. He was a fast-rising star in the Missouri General Assembly and was thought to be on his way to Congress when he got caught up in a tangled scheme that involved some anonymous postcards aimed at undercutting Russ Carnahan, Smith’s 2004 Democratic rival for a St. Louis-area congressional seat.

[...]

Whether Greitens would actually go through with it remains to be seen. Maybe he’s already been laughed off the phone, and he’s moving on. His plate is pretty full. His family life surely has absorbed a few torpedoes, and the former governor has to make a living, too.

But I’m intrigued by what so many of Greitens’ former allies have told me: They’re surprised that I’m surprised. Of course the former governor would consider another run, they say. He’s a one-time Navy SEAL who’s talked often about the value of moving through pain and suffering and how that builds character.

[...]

Let’s be clear: He’d have no chance. But he would have that test of a lifetime, and he’d all but kill himself to master it. The impact on the Missouri GOP could be catastrophic, but Greitens wouldn’t view that as his concern.

  Kansas City Star

In the age of Trump, he sounds like presidential material to me.

The in-and-out-of-hot-water Scott Faughn, publisher of The Missouri Times, once said about Greitens and a possible comeback, “What we love more than a saint is a sinner come home.“

Hallelujah.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  Why so many?