After spending last week railing against the undue political influence being wielded over South Carolina’s State Ports Authority, S.C. Senate President Glenn McConnell now finds himself accused of improperly using his own clout to influence decisions made by the embattled state agency.
And if that wasn’t enough, the beneficiary of McConnell’s alleged involvement is said to be none other than Charleston businessman Warren Lasch, who is already neck deep in multiple controversies involving the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley – McConnell’s favorite pet project.
Details are sketchy at this point, but several S.C. media outlets are reportedly chasing documents related to this story after a casual remark made by one of McConnell’s Senate colleagues during last week’s contentious debate over a port management bill.
Among those journalists is La Socialista‘s John Monk, whom McConnell refuses to even acknowledge after the reporter broke scandal after scandal involving the Confederate submarine several years ago.
Monk – a “news columnist” for La Socialista (a.ka. The State newspaper) – is not bound by objectivity in his reporting, something McConnell has found out the hard way on numerous occasions.
Simply put, Monk v. McConnell means things could get hot and heavy fast, people.
What’s already established – largely due to Monk’s reporting – is that Lasch and McConnell ran the Friends of the Hunley, a private foundation which received millions of tax dollars to raise and preserve the submarine.
We also know that Lasch has had extensive dealings with the State Ports Authority, not all of them good.
Depending on how detailed the documentation for these charges is, McConnell could be facing quite the public relations embarrassment.
Stay tuned … needless to say we’ll be following this story as well in our own “unfair, imbalanced” way.
By Toyota Kawaski February 23, 2009 at 9:49 am
I hope he brings that beautiful cannon up to the fits trailer er headquarters and sends a blast through that will rival the shot heard around the world.
By anonymous February 23, 2009 at 11:47 am
I think we should CLOSE FURMAN UNIVERSITY.
By Henry February 23, 2009 at 3:09 pm
What about the threatening letter from Lasch to the SPA that were edited by John Hazzard, McConnell’s Chief of Staff? The “before” letter and the “after”letter?
When is anyone going to publish THAT stuff?
Why did McConnell continue threatening the SPA after a PricewaterhouseCoopers forensic audit showed that Lasch’s company, CIP, had “zero equity”?
And why did the SPA settle “out of court” the lawsuit, “SPA vs. Warren Lasch et al.” by agreeing to pay CIP’s $5 million debt (“negative equity”)? Under pressure from McConnell?
Why did McConnell say, in the Post and Courierl, contemptuously of the SPA, “Gedney [Howe, Lasch's attorney] ain’t on no charity ride [defending Lasch, assaulting/manipulating the SPA]?”
And when are we EVER going to get the secret (CIP President) Duane Grantham and John Hazzard depositions removed from a judge’s “Protective Order”? We people want to know the secrets of McConnell, Lasch, SPA and the Hunley !!!
How do I get in on some of that easy BMW money?
Henry
By Naive citizen February 23, 2009 at 6:01 pm
You mean it’s possible Sen. McConnell , who is now pushing the legislature to control the SPA , used his power and influence so that Warren Lasch, his Friend of the Hunley, financially benefited on a sweetheart port deal a few years back?
Why, if that were indeed the case, and God knows we would need to see all the documents that exist to really know what when on , then it really isn’t a better deal for us trusting taxpayers if the legislature is watching over the SPA after all?
Is this the real reason why Senator Grooms is pushing so hard on this issue?
When are we going to see the documents come out on this one?
By Old Bike Dude February 23, 2009 at 11:30 pm
So is the guy with his back to the camera Mills Lane?
By Toyota Kawaski February 24, 2009 at 9:46 am
Old Bike DUDE miles is bald and is now a TV judge down in Texas
By R April 5, 2010 at 2:41 am
Like I’ve said for years. Its never going to matter who is in the Governors Mansion as long as our Legislature is as crooked, self-serving, and secretive as it is. Citizens of South Carolina need to wake up and realize that the source of nearly all the state’s problems lie with the Legislature. The Legislature is all powerful, unaccountable, and serves only themselves. The fact that Admiral McConnell of the Confederate Navy was able to steer $10 plus million of tax money towards that damn rust bucket pet project of his WITHOUT any Senate vote or ANY approval from anyone other than himself is proof of just how damn crooked the Legislature is.
Its long been my opinion that the Legislature wants South Carolina poor, backwards, and having the worst education system in the nation for the sole reason that these people don’t know any better than to elect the crooked fools they do. Let’s face it, if South Carolina had a truly educated populace they wouldn’t vote these morons into office in the first place. I don’t think we’ll ever turn the corner of progress until we can clean up the Legislature buy bringing in accountability, ethics, getting rid of the secrecy, and open up the processes so we can all know what goes on. And for God sake we don’t need Son of Wilson, Son of Strom, or Sons of Campbell running around!
By Admiral_Komack May 3, 2010 at 3:57 pm
“What’s already established – largely due to Monk’s reporting – is that Lasch and McConnell ran the Friends of the Hunley, a private foundation which received millions of tax dollars to raise and preserve the submarine.”
-What, did they run the Hunley aground?