Governor Mark Sanford will give a copy of the State Ethics Commission report to South Carolina House Speaker Bobby Harrell. A statement from attorney Butch Bowers says Sanford’s office will present a copy of the report to Harrell next week–after the Ethics Commission gives notice of its next hearing.
The commission decided that there was probable cause to continue the investigation into the governor’s travel activities. The state’s attorney general called for the investigation after AP reports questioned Gov. Sanford’s use of state planes and first class seating for various trips.
Attorney Butch Bowers
Bowers says that the Ethics Commission reviewed 772 flights taken by Governor Sanford, and that no questions were raised regarding 97 percent of those. He said the panel examined 622 of the governor’s campaign expenditures and found 98 percent of them to be in complete compliance with the law. Bowers says they will continue to work with the commission, and look forward to the opportunity to present Sanford’s arguments to the commission.
To Bowers statement, the House Speaker’s spokesman Greg Foster said that the report on Sanford was a public document as of Wednesday when the commission gave it to the governor. He said it should have been made available to all South Carolinians then, not next week.
Speaker Harrell released a statement prior to that of Bowers, saying the state Supreme Court clearly ruled that governor Sanford fully waived his right to confidentiality in this case. Harrell says the waiver the governor signed extends to all documentation to which he is entitled and makes that documentation available to the public.