Howard Rich possibly complicit in Sanford’s ‘indiscretions’

Like a “Law & Order” episode, we have another twist to the story on Gov. Mark Sanford‘s affair with an Argentinean woman known only as “Maria.” Rumors have been circulating that Sanford stayed at the house of real estate magnate and school choice supporter Howard Rich.

According to Rich’s Web site, he and his wife split their time between Philadelphia and Argentina, and Rep. Todd Rutherford said on WACH on Wednesday night that, “he stayed, I believe, at Howard Rich’s house.” Rich has been a longtime supporter of Sanford, and Rich is believed to have bankrolled a number of “independent” groups in South Carolina to push his agenda, using South Carolina as his own personal policy laboratory.

So far, Sanford has not admitted how he met Maria, but he said they first met eight years ago, which would put it just as he was ramping up his efforts to challenge then-Gov. Jim Hodges. The astroturfed school choice lobby followed closely behind. If the allegation is true, it would put a whole new spin on what Sanford called a political bubble covering the couple.