Governor's attorney responds to one lawsuit

Governor Mark Sanford formally responded today (Tuesday) to the one of the two lawsuits filed against him. The Governor’s pro bono attorney, John Foster Kilpatrick Stockton, answered  a suit  filed Friday by the S.C. Association of School Administrators.
At issue is their $200 million portion of the disputed stimulus funds, refused by the governor—an action that began this series of legal disputes.
Stockton has requested  that the issue be moved  from the S.C. Supreme Court to federal court. His position is that federal court is the appropriate venue for any suit related to attempts to compel the governor to apply for stimulus funds, since it involves, he says, the legislature trying to unconstitutionally re-write federal law.
Regarding another suit, the governor’s office is not a named defendant so they took no position on a similar lawsuit by a Chapin High School student.
However they did take issue with the backgrounds of the filing attorneys, drawing direct connections to Dick Harpootlian’s affiliation with the Democratic Party and Dwight Drake’s previous lobbyist positions.
The governor has also filed suit in federal court against the legislature for forcing him to take federal stimulus money.
Read Gov’s legal response