Port Scandal Brewing For McConnell?

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.

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