The leaking of emails from Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom to superintendent of education candidate Kelly Payne appears to have raised more questions than have been addressed at the outset of this latest dust-up of politics and affairs of the heart in South Carolina. There is definitely way more to this story than has come out. Behold, skullduggery.
Though Payne issued a statement saying that the emails were leaked by rivals of her campaign, we’re not sure that’s accurate. What struck us is that none of her emails have made their way to the public. What was sent out was only Eckstrom’s, which would lend some credence to the theory that it was somebody trying to get over on him, not her. Who would go so far as to want to do so? Is it a personal or political beef? Or both?
As well, who could have obtained access to his email? You would think it would be someone close to him, with access to his computer — probably at the office. A lot of people save their email username and password on their computers, not thinking of what would happen if the machine fell into the wrong hands. We think this idea is more plausible than some organized hacking operation, or allegations that the Mick Zais campaign went all cloak-and-dagger.
Here’s the thing about the Zais allegation: it doesn’t make sense, period. Consider that it’s a down-ballot race. Granted politics in South Carolina is a contact sport, with no quarter given, but this seems a little beyond the pale. Then consider that Zais is of a similar ideological thinking as Eckstrom and Payne. If something was up, it would be another signal of the decline of the Sanford-organized “reform movement.”
What exactly did Eckstrom mean by writing, “I’ve said my piece so will now quit bugging you. Don’t want you to think of me as just another bothersome Andre-type.” Who exactly was the Lieutenant Governor bothersome with, and how does Eckstrom know about it? Are they kicking back and trading war stories? Comparing notes?
Also, what the fuck is this about? “One word of caution: PLEASE be careful not to let FaceBook crowd out your precious kids, your faith, and you career. It too can be addictive if you choose not to guard against its control of your life.”
Then, finally, Eckstrom said he and his wife had been separated for two years. To the best of our knowledge, you only need a separation of one year to get a divorce in South Carolina. If he and his wife were trying to reconcile, why has he been pursuing a relationship with Payne? And if not, what’s the hold-up?
While Gov. Mark Sanford is considering the future of himself politically and personally, he’ll probably want to play some music, So, we’re trying to help out, giving him an eight-track shout out for music that works for his peculiar situation.
Emmylou Harris and Buck Owens, “Crying Time”
Aimee Mann, “Calling It Quits”
Chris Isaak, “Wicked Game”
Blondie, “Maria”
West Side Story, “Maria”
The Avett Brothers, “Pretty Girl from Chile”
Aimee Mann, “Stupid Thing”
Ben Folds, “Bitches Ain’t Shit”
ACChri
Nobody loves Mark. Well, maybe his Argentine mistress, but that’s about it. Thursday, the conservative imprint of the Penguin Group, Sentinel, released Gov. Mark Sanford from his contract to write a book on his (totally fucking asinine) political philosophy. It’s understandable — at this point, the only things anyone want to know about Sanford is how close he got to crossing “the ultimate line” with the other women, beside his wife, he was involved with.
Sentinel publisher Adrian Zackheim said the termination was by mutual agreement between Sanford and the publishing house. The Governor, after his bizarre interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, hasn’t made a comment to the press.
The book was of the type that politicians typically publish before launching a campaign for the presidency. With the publicity of Sanford’s mismanagement of the state’s business and his romantic issues, it’s unlikely he will be mounting an effort at the nation’s highest office.
Thursday, SLED chief Reggie Lloyd gave Gov. Mark Sanford a pass by saying that the Governor did not break any law in his multiple trips to Argentina and New York City to see his Argentine mistress, Maria Belén Chapur, over the past year.
“In terms of looking at it from a criminal standpoint, was there a criminal violation or misuse of public funds, we have found none, nor has anybody brought us any facts to suggest our findings are questionable or there should be another investigation,” Lloyd said at the 2 p.m. news conference.
The SLED investigation, suggested by Sen. Jake Knotts, was called for by Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster. Joel Sawyer, Sanford’s spokesman, said the Governor had not intention of resigning from office.
Over the past week, The State has been receiving plaudits for its coverage of Gov. Mark Sanford’s meltdown, and conducting the sort of reporting that a publication does when it totally owns a major story. In fact, The State is probably guaranteed a number of SCPA awards already. But, they better not break their arms patting themselves on the back just yet.
The fact is, The State was lazy. For the six months that it had the emails blowing up Sanford’s affair with Argentine businesswoman Maria Belén Chapur, the paper acted like a number of other papers act in South Carolina — gumming the subject. No teeth to be seen. In fact, the emails were sent to the paper via the letters to the editor function, but no one thought to tell then-editorial page editor Brad Warthen about it, who was on a short vacation.
Did The State take advantage of their resources, or McClatchy’s resources, to aggressively pursue the story? No. The emails sat around while the legislative session went on.
If it weren’t for Sen. Jake Knotts keeping a watchful eye on the Governor and alerting the media to the fact Sanford had skedaddled without telling a damn soul where he was, those emails would still be languishing in The State’s offices and Sanford would be gearing up for his book launch. You see, it’s up to the press to hold elected officials accountable and monitor their actions. Papers, especially when given primo inside information, shouldn’t have to wait for a political opponent of an official to make a claim to get on a story.
Right there are the two big breaks — poached emails and an investigation of the Governor’s whereabouts — neither of which were turned up through original sleuthing by the paper. The story, and this is what galls us the most, was fucking given to them on a silver platter.
Perhaps one of the reasons that this pisses us off so much is that our big story about Sanford was gone after in a totally different manner. Before knowing exactly what was going on, we went hell-bent for leather looking for the story, high and low. Contacts and conversations initiated by us led to our possession of the hit list proposal. Then we shopped it to the Free Times, because, frankly, we couldn’t trust The State to do it right.
There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears that went into investigating and publishing that story. It wasn’t handed to us. It didn’t come gift wrapped. It was a royal goddamn pain-in-the-ass two month ordeal. Investigative journalism isn’t easy. Throwing yourself into a story to that degree makes you want to bang your head against a wall and tear your hair out.
The State had it easy.
As South Carolina voters, pundits and elected officials focus on the impending possibility of Gov. Mark Sanford’s resignation, the personal fallout involving his year-long romantic relationship with Argentine businesswoman Maria Belén Chapur is continuing at the expected pace.
The rumor is that First Lady Jenny Sanford has decamped from the family’s Sullivan’s Island home and is now with her relations in Hobe Sound, Fla. There is also the allegation that Jenny has retained the services of Charleston’s Rosen Law Firm. The only confirmation we could secure is that her contact with the lawyers is for some sort of legal action, natch. It’s unknown whether it concerns divorce proceedings, though family law is one of the firm’s two specialties.
If the First Lady is indeed taking measures to end the marriage, we wouldn’t be surprised. If we cheated on one of our girlfriends, and said things about the “other woman” that Sanford did, we would have a hit out on us. And it would be well-deserved.
If you won an election with 69 percent of the vote, observers would say that not only did you outrageously kick your opponent’s ass, but the margin was so large that the opposition party shouldn’t mount a campaign in your district for some time. Taking that into account, a new poll by SurveyUSA has 69 percent of South Carolinians asking for Gov. Mark Sanford’s resignation. A paltry 28 percent want him to remain as governor.
The poll, with a 4.1 percent margin of error and a sample of 500 state residents, was conducted on July 1 for Charleston television station WCSC. Of the respondents, 63 percent said they had no trust in Sanford being able to adequately function as governor.
One of the most interesting results involves Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer. The sample was asked, “Is Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer … completely prepared to be governor? Somewhat prepared? Or not prepared to be governor?” Overall, the final verdict was mixed, with 38 percent saying he was somewhat prepared and 34 percent believing he is not prepared, at all. Only 20 percent said that the Lieutenant Governor was completely prepared to ascend to higher office if required.
Gov. Mark Sanford, the gift that keeps on giving to political satirists on what would otherwise be a depressingly boring summer.
The South Carolina constitution is a strange animal. Last overhauled during the tyrannical reign of “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, the document that is the final arbiter of Palmetto State law has a rather bizarre clause when it comes to the removal of the governor. Up to this point, it’s been commonly accepted that if Gov. Mark Sanford is going to get out of the way of the state’s business, he would have to resign or be impeached and convicted.
But, it doesn’t have to be that way.
According to The Herald-Journal’s Robert Dalton, there’s another option open. Under S.C. law, the governor can be removed if a majority of the attorney general, treasurer, secretary of state and comptroller general agree and the 3-1 or 4-0 group “transmits to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that the Governor is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Lieutenant Governor shall forthwith assume the powers and duties of the office as acting Governor.”
As it stands, that scenario is unlikely. Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster doesn’t want Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer getting a leg up on him in the GOP nomination battle, and Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom is known as a close ally of the Governor. So, with at best a 2-2 deadlock, that eventuality is not close to probable.
Currently, Senate President Pro Tempore Glen McConnell and Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell have both deferred judgment until a final legal conclusion on Sanford’s actions is reached.
After 6 p.m. Friday evening, both U.S. Rep Gresham Barrett and Sen. David Thomas let it be known that they want Gov. Mark Sanford to resign his office as soon as possible. Barrett becomes the first congressman from South Carolina to openly say Sanford should go, and Thomas’ remarks make him the 15th GOP senator to request that the Governor leave his position.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Barrett said that in his conversation with Sanford today, he said the Governor should resign. He cited Sanford’s ineffective state and South Carolina’s 12 percent unemployment rate as reasons for his decision.
Thomas made his statement through email and his spokesman on Twitter, saying, “He should resign. If misuse of funds, he should be impeached.”
