Chief of staff tried to reach Sanford 15 times during secret trip, records show

Sanford’s chief of staff Scott English unsuccessfully called the governor’s cell phone 15 times during the governor’s secret trip to Argentina to visit his lover last month as staff members were out of contact with the governor for at least four days.

With calls unanswered, the governor’s communications director Joel Sawyer juggled e-mails and media calls from around the nation, refining what was later proven to be an untrue message that the governor was taking a break after a draining legislative session and hiking the Appalachian Trail.

“The governor is hiking along the Appalachian Trail,” Sawyer repeatedly wrote to reporters June 22. “I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the Trail he was on before we did so.”

Documents shed new light on a June 18-24 secret trip the governor took to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to visit his lover, including Sanford missing an economic development meeting during his time in South America.

Sanford has said he misled his staff to believe he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.

The governor was approached June 24 by a reporter from The State newspaper in the Atlanta airport as he exited a plane on his way back from Buenos Aires. He later confessed to the affair with his Maria Belen Chapur, his Argentine lover, whom he called his soul mate, as well as other inappropriate contact with other unnamed women.

The documents show:

• The governor’s staff appears to have believed the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail. On June 18, the day the governor left for Buenos Aires, the governor’s scheduler e-mailed State House law enforcement security that she was “not sure of (the governor’s) weekend plans still.”

The governor’s phone records for his state-issued cell phone show six days of no communication between Sanford and his chief of staff. On June 23, the governor finally returned English’s calls.

English and Sawyer only exchanged one e-mail on their state e-mail accounts about Sanford’s whereabouts.

• The governor allowed some economic development initiatives to take a back seat during his secret trip. He was invited to but turned down a dinner invitation June 24 with representatives from a company looking to expand their S.C. operation, according to e-mail records. Sanford also declined a June 25 celebration event for a S.C. business’ plant expansion because his schedule was “just absolutely jammed this summer,” wrote a staffer in an e-mail.

http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/904010.html

So is his staff!

JOEL SAWYER IS A FREAKIN’ LIAR

Why Did Sanford’s Staff Lie About His Trip To South America?

When Mark Sanford’s five-day absence was noticed by the national media Monday, Sanford’s staff sought to quell concerns by telling reporters he was hiking the Appalachian Trail:

Then, at 10:01 p.m. Monday, [Communications Director Joel Sawyer e-mailed reporters an update: “The governor is hiking along the Appalachian Trail. I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the Trail he was on before we did so.”

Sawyer said Sanford was hiking “to kind of clear his head after the legislative session.” He added emphatically, “[Sanford's] an avid outdoorsman.”

On Tuesday morning, Sawyer said that Sanford had “called to check in with his chief of staff.” Yet he stuck with his claim that Sanford was hiking.

It turns out, however, that Sawyer was lying. This morning, reporters from The State caught up with Sanford at Atlanta’s Hartsville-Jackson International Airport, where he had just returned from a seven day trip to Beunos Aires, Argentina — nowhere near the Appalachian Trial. Sanford refused to say what he had been doing in South America, and offered no explanation for why his staff lied.

http://detroit.craigslist.org/pol/1237193461.html

Sanfraud Spokesman: SC governor hiking Appalachian Trail

(AP) — A spokesman for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he is hiking the Appalachian Trail, which explains his perplexing absence.

A statement issued by Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer Monday night didn’t make clear what part of the trail he was on.

Sanford hadn’t been in his office for several days, and fellow politicians and his wife said they didn’t know where he was.

Sawyer had said earlier in the day he wasn’t aware that anyone on staff had spoken to the governor since Thursday.

Jenny Sanford said she had not spoken with her husband for several days. That includes Father’s Day.

Where is South Carolina’s governor?

The lieutenant governor doesn’t know, and neither does a state senator who’s a close confidante.

And while his staff said they knew where he was, a spokesman said he wasn’t aware that any of them had spoken with the governor since Thursday.

“He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids,” Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press while vacationing with the couple’s four sons at their Sullivans Island beach house. She said she didn’t know where he was, but wasn’t concerned.

“Gov. Sanford is taking some time away from the office this week to recharge after the stimulus battle and the legislative session and to work on a couple of projects that have fallen by the wayside,” Sawyer said.

Sawyer said that he hadn’t spoken with Sanford since Thursday and wasn’t aware that any other member of the governor’s staff had, either. The governor told his staff where he was going last week and planned to check in.

Sawyer wouldn’t say where the Sanford was, but said it was an area with limited communication.

The lieutenant governor said he did not know Sanford was taking time away from his office.

State Sen. Tom Davis, a Beaufort Republican, Sanford confidante and former chief of staff, said his calls to Sanford were going straight to voice mail. Calls from The Associated Press to the governor’s cell phone also went to voice mail.

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said he didn’t know where Sanford was but said he had not been put in charge.

“It’s one thing for the boys to go off by themselves, but on Fathers Day to leave your family behind? That’s erratic,” said Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Manning.

Sanford’s unannounced absence was a cause for concern because the National Guard and the state’s top law enforcement agencies report to him, Land said.

“And when those officials can’t get in touch with the commander, it’s really weird. That’s not responsible,” he said.

Sen. Jake Knotts, said the state needs to know where its governor is. “Somebody’s got to be in charge.”

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jG3Xqgk_yvHFCxzYZIaivTgoMo0gD9903OU80

Gov. Mark Sanford’s chief of staff, Scott English, unsuccessfully tried to reach Sanford 14 times during the governor’s secret trip to Argentina to visit his mistress last month.

With calls unanswered, the governor’s communications director, Joel Sawyer, juggled e-mails and media phone calls from around the nation, giving a consistent but untrue message that the governor was taking a break from a draining legislative session and hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Through South Carolina’s open record laws, The State received today more than 500 pages of documents – e-mails and phone call exchanges – between the governor’s staff members.

The records do not show any communication between the governor and his staff between June 18 when he left the country and June 22, when questions about the governor’s whereabouts were first raised. Sanford was contacted June 23. He returned to the country June 24.

State leaders accused the governor of abandoning his responsibilities and not properly informing the lieutenant governor and his own staff of his whereabouts.

http://www.thesunnews.com/575/story/979471.html

RE: Maria Belen Chapur

Mark Sanford’s Latina Lover Press Conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qAtZ9N6FiY&feature=related

South Carolina Has the 5th Most Dysfunctional State Governments

National Journal is just out with “The Six Most Functional State Governments” and the Palmetto State comes in at number 5.

Yayyy, us!

The ratings are based on four criteria:

The quality of leadership — by the state’s legislature, its current governor and, where applicable, its ousted governor.
The whiff of criminality in the state’s top political leadership.
The severity of the state’s policy challenges.
The intensity of the media circus surrounding state government.

Each state is graded in each category on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 representing the worst, the most severe or the most intense, and 1 representing the most benign. The categories are averaged to produce a final score and ranking.

On the issue of leadership, we get a big spankin’ 10:

After his now infamous sojourn to Buenos Aires to visit his mistress, Gov. Mark Sanford (R) returned to South Carolina in a drastically weaker position than when he left. He had already alienated many in his state with his effort — blocked by the courts — to decline certain federal stimulus monies. Then he irked political leaders and constituents by leaving the state for several days without providing forwarding information. Finally, after his return, Sanford inexplicably volunteered to journalists a wealth of details about his unsettled personal life.

Our next best, uh, worst score is for “Media Circus” – a 9:

The Sanford story caught fire internationally and bequeathed a new euphemism — “hiking the Appalachian Trail” — to the English language. But as Sanford looks more and more likely to stay put, South Carolina has already begun to return to normalcy.

Our “statewide challenges” merit a 7 due to the unemployment rate and other issues such as infant mortality, premature births, stroke, diabetes, smoking prevention and violent crime.

About the only thing we come out looking good on is “criminality” where we get a score of 2.

The other five states (and thier ranking) on the list are:

6. California
4. Alaska
3. Illinois
2. Nevada
1. New York

http://www.examiner.com/x-16728-Columbia-Democrat-Examiner~y2009m7d13-National-Journal-South-Carolina-Has-the-5th-Most-Dysfunctional-State-Governments

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Dickipedia:

Marshall Clement “Mark” Sanford, Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is the Governor of South Carolina, a passionate lover of Argentinean women, and a dick.

Sanford was a leading candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination until an extra-marital affair in Argentina brought national attention to his dickishness (pun very much intended).

In addition to being a disgraced politician, Sanford is also a real estate developer and Air Force Reserve captain, which allows him to screw people out of money while wearing a bomber jacket and most likely calling them “Iceman.”

Read the whole story: Dickipedia
http://www.dickipedia.org/dick.php?title=Mark_Sanford

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/13/mark-sanford-dickipedia_n_230447.html

I read only fitsnews, not the MSM (mainstream media) version. I hope their advertisers check this site from time to time.