January 6 committee investigator John Wood is launching an independent Senate campaign in Missouri in an effort to stop Eric Greitens

• John Wood, a senior investigative counsel for the January 6 committee, is running for Senate.
• A registered Republican, he's running as an independent in order to stop Eric Greitens from becoming a senator.
• He was urged to run by former Missouri Sen. John Danforth, who's bashed both Greitens and Josh Hawley.

John Wood, a former US Attorney in Missouri who's fresh off of a stint as a senior investigative counsel on the January 6 committee, is launching an independent campaign for US Senate in Missouri.

As he announced his campaign, he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he believes former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is likely to win the Republican nomination, and that voters deserved an alternative.

Greitens, whose tenure as governor ended in a "revenge porn" scandal in 2018, recently released an ad that depicted him hunting "Republicans in Name Only" (RINOs)" in a violent, military-style raid.

"This RINO-hunting business has become a national story and I think that that advertisement is an embarrassment to our state, and it's dangerous," Wood told the Post-Dispatch. "I think Eric Greitens is a danger to women, he's a danger to children, and he's a danger to our democracy."

Recent polling has shown Greitens at the top of the Republican field. In March, his ex-wife accused him of committing domestic abuse.

Most recently, Wood made an appearance at the January 6 committee's third public hearing, where he questioned one of his own former bosses, Judge Michael Luttig.

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A former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Wood has held a variety of positions within the government, as well as outside groups. Prior to his service on the January 6 committee, he was general counsel for the US Chamber of Commerce.

Wood was ultimately encouraged to run by an outside group and former Republican Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, who Wood also once worked for.

"I'm excited to see that John's name has been surfaced as a potential independent candidate for Senate here in Missouri," Danforth told Insider last week, adding that Wood "would be a great candidate and U.S. Senator."

Danforth, who served as US senator from Missouri from 1976 to 1995, also served as something of a mentor figure to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who Wood would be serving with if he were to be elected.

But following the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Danforth turned on Hawley.

"Supporting Josh and trying so hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I ever made in my life," Danforth told the Post-Dispatch following the attack. "Yesterday was the physical culmination of the long attempt (by Hawley and others) to foment a lack of public confidence in our democratic system."

Wood describes himself as a "lifelong Republican" and told the Post-Dispatch that "probably both parties' primaries are becoming a race to the bottom to see who can be the most divisive and the most extreme," name-checking Democratic candidate Lucas Kunce for describing himself as a "hand grenade."

"Bring. It. On," said Kunce in a statement on Wednesday, calling Wood a "Republican in sheep's clothing" and "anti-choice Clarence Thomas clerk."