WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Sanford attorney denies report of previously unrecorded private trips

Sanford attorney denies report of previously unrecorded private trips

By Logan Smith - email

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A South Carolina ethics official says Gov. Mark Sanford wants to report previously unrecorded flights he took on planes owned by friends and donors, according to the Associated Press. However, Sanford's attorney says that isn't true.

The AP reported Thursday that State Ethics Commission executive director Herb Hayden said the governor has asked the agency to amend ethics reports to include information on his private plane trips.

"There are no 'new flights' that haven’t already been publicly disclosed," denied Sanford attorney Butch Bowers. "The Ethics Commission concluded yesterday that Governor Sanford has complied with all laws regarding private air travel."

Bowers said of the 772 flights reviewed by the Ethics Commission, "no questions were raised regarding 97% of these flights."

"The results of the Commission’s exhaustive investigation confirm what we have said all along – that Governor Sanford has been a good steward of public resources and has worked hard to ensure his administration adheres to both the letter and the spirit of the law," Bowers continued.

The ethics commission on Wednesday said they are charging the governor with unspecified ethics violations. A hearing on those charges is to take place early next year.

In August, an Associated Press investigation showed Sanford took private plane trips and did not report the flights on ethics disclosure forms.

A resolution to impeach Sanford is in the House Judiciary Committee right now, and won't be voted on until after the ethics commission releases their investigation.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Bobby Harrell is lambasting the governor for his reluctance to release the results of the ethics investigation to representatives. Sanford had previously promised transparency, but unsuccessfully fought to prevent the report's public release.

Harrell said the ethics commission privately gave Sanford a copy of the report on Wednesday, and criticized Sanford for not giving a copy to the House.

"We are disappointed that Governor Sanford has broken his transparency promise by keeping this court-ordered public document secret," Harrell said. "After claiming to be a leader in the transparency movement and heavily criticizing others on this issue, the Governor’s insistence on secrecy goes against all his past actions on this issue."

Bowers said Thursday afternoon that Sanford had agreed to give a copy of the report to Harrell next week, "following the commission’s release of its notice of hearing."

However, the speaker's office said that's not good enough.

"This is a public document as of yesterday when the commission gave it to the Governor," Harrell spokesperson Greg Foster said. "It should have been made available to the public then, not next week.

Previous Story:

• Commission: Probable cause on Sanford ethics allegations

• Sanford's request of secrecy denied in Supreme Court case

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