Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
JEFFERSON CITY — When former Gov. Eric Greitens closed his state campaign account last year, he gave generously to a single charity: Legion of Hope, formed by the ex-governor’s campaign manager.
State records show Greitens for Missouri emptied its coffers in November, sending nearly all of its remaining funds — $159,879 — as a “charitable contribution” to the nonprofit, founded by aide Dylan Johnson.
Johnson did not respond to emailed questions and a phone call about his charity and how the money is being used. An attempt to reach Greitens was unsuccessful.
“I’m not sure,” said Johnson’s mother, Natalie, when asked about the organization. “I’ll get back to you.”
Johnson’s website said the nonprofit is “geared towards helping first responders and underserved communities and programs.”
Natalie Johnson’s home in Harrisonville, Missouri, is listed as the address for Legion of Hope in Greitens campaign paperwork.
Dylan Johnson, a 2016 graduate of Harrisonville High School, began working for Greitens’ official office when he was 17, according to his LinkedIn profile. Despite the scandals surrounding the former chief executive, Johnson stuck with Greitens through his failed U.S. Senate run in 2022.
Records show Johnson formed Legion of Hope on Sept. 30, about two months after Greitens lost the U.S. Senate primary in August.
Greitens, a Republican, sent the nearly $160,000 to Johnson’s charity on Nov. 9, according to state ethics commission records.
Registration paperwork with the Missouri secretary of state says Legion of Hope is “organized exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code,” which bars it from participating in a political campaign. Johnson is the sole incorporator.
The charity’s address in the secretary of state filing is also the same as Johnson’s mom’s Harrisonville address.
Dylan Johnson was a guest in 2021 on Eric Greitens’ “Actionable Intelligence” show on the Real America’s Voice satellite channel. The former governor described his future U.S. Senate campaign manager as “a student of history.” (Screenshot)
Johnson is currently working as a communications adviser to former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, according to his LinkedIn profile, where he also says he “helped start” the Legion of Hope.
While it is common for politicians to donate campaign funds to charity, it is less common for the charity to be obviously tied to the politician’s campaign manager.
Greitens left office in 2018 after he acknowledged having an extramarital affair with a woman before he became governor.
He was also accused of taking a compromising photograph of the woman and threatening her with its release, but an invasion of privacy case brought by former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner, a Democrat, at the time was dropped. No photo was ever produced.
Greitens also faced a felony computer tampering charge by Gardner, who accused him of illegally using a charity donor list from the charity he founded, the Mission Continues, for fundraising in his 2016 bid for governor.
Greitens resigned and Gardner dropped the case.
In February 2020, the Missouri Ethics Commission fined Greitens’ campaign $178,000, saying it neglected to report dark-money aid during his 2016 run, and that he should have reported polling data his campaign received from A New Missouri, the dark-money group once used to boost Greitens’ brand.
Greitens spent that year attempting to rehabilitate his brand ahead of his 2022 Senate run. He and then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt were both endorsed in the Republican contest by Trump; Schmitt went on win the race.
Greitens’ federal account, used to bankroll his failed Senate campaign, was still active as of July.
His most recent report says he paid $473 in June to Palm Beach-based X Strategies for “media consulting.”
On his regular Tuesday appearance on the McGraw Milhaven show on KTRS, Post-Dispatch metro columnist Tony Messenger discusses his column on the obscene amount of big money pouring into Missouri during the primary election season.
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