Federal Judge Remands Sanford Suits To State Court
S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford has been dealt a major – and perhaps fatal – blow in his fight to exercise control over a disputed pot of federal “stimulus” dollars.
Two stimulus-related lawsuits which Sanford’s attorneys recently removed to federal court were today remanded back to the S.C. Supreme Court by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Anderson.
In other words, it’s likely “game over” for the governor, who has been attempting for months to exercise control over this particular pot of federal “stimulus” funds.
The S.C. Supreme Court has already indicated its intention to hand over control of the money to state lawmakers in the event it is permitted to rule on the lawsuits.
The disputed pot of money totals roughly $740 million – or less than a tenth of the $8 billion worth of stimulus funds that South Carolina is slated to receive.
Update – Sanford’s office has just informed reporters that the governor will hold a press conference at 3:00 p.m. today to “discuss the federal court ruling handed down a short while ago, and the implications for the (stimulus) suit going forward.”
Comments
By oops! what do i do now? on June 1st, 2009 at 2:21 pm
maybe we’ll all get lucky and sanford will resign in protest! that would be a win-win!!
By Tim on June 1st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
oops –
That’s an awesome idea.
By Recovering Lobbyist on June 1st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Oops: Except for the part where André Bauer becomes Governor. No, that would be a win-tie.
By peyton manning sucks on June 1st, 2009 at 3:54 pm
What, Marky Mark is having a press conference? I’ll bet he mentions fiscal responsibility.
Hey, Will, how much is mr. fiscal responsibility, watchdog for the taxpayer, paying his other four lawyers? Is he paying them out of the (taxpayer funded) insurance reserve fund? Sawyer only said Foster was working for free (less costs — which are, of course, paid by the insurance reserve fund). I’m sure he didn’t just forget to mention that they all were working for free.
How’s that FOIA request coming along? You want me to help you draft it? I’ll do it for free.
By Eric on June 1st, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Pretty sure that his lawyers are less expensive than the $700million he is trying to use to pay off debt.
By BIN News Editorial Staff on June 1st, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Told you so. And the best is yet to come.
Palin/Sanfraud. Great Ticket!
BIN News Legal Staff
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