As reported First on FITS earlier today, S.C. First Lady Jenny Sanford and her four boys have moved out of the S.C. Governor’s Mansion in Columbia, S.C. and are heading back to Charleston – leaving Gov. Mark Sanford all alone in a big, empty house.
Mrs. Sanford’s move comes after the couple spent two weeks in Europe with their boys and another week together at an undisclosed location ostensibly working on their marriage, which was rocked earlier this summer when the governor admitting having an extramarital affair with his Argentine lover, Maria Belen Chapur.
Here is the statement released by Mrs. Sanford earlier today:
I am so thankful for the overwhelming support and prayers we have received from people all across South Carolina. I am literally in awe of how blessed we are to have such love and support from family and friends, old and new. It is with this support, and after much careful and prayerful consideration, that I have decided to move back to our home in Charleston with our sons for the upcoming school year. From there, we will work to continue the process of healing our family. While we will be leaving Columbia, we will return often, and I will remain engaged in activities in my role as First Lady, acknowledging that my responsibilities to my family come first. Once again, when it comes to personal family matters like this, I respectfully ask that members of the media allow us to go on with our lives in peace.
And here is the statement issued hours later by her husband, S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford:
The First Lady’s Office has already put out a statement that speaks for the family, on this decision that we felt best, both for our process of reconciliation, and for the boys in the upcoming school year. I stand by this family decision and accordingly ask the media to honor the zone of privacy that Jenny has asked for on behalf of the healing process and our four boys going forward.
Neither the governor nor the First Lady were available for comment.
Obviously, there are a number of theories as to what’s going on here, so stay tuned to FITS for our observations later this afternoon.
By anonymous August 7, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Mark Sanford Victim of Friday News ‘Dump’
In this case, his wife has done the dumping. She and the kids are vacating the Governor’s Mansion.
Uh-oh… remember Lindsey Graham saying Sanford could keep his job if he reconciled with his wife? This move sounds like a prelude to a resignation.
By anonymous August 7, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Where is our Governor?
uh uh uh BEAUFORT! Surprise Surprise!
“Gov. Mark Sanford will be in Beaufort today to name the new clerk of court, , according to a news release from his office. The announcement will be made at 2 p.m. at the Beaufort County Courthouse at 102 Ribaut Road. Last week, sitting clerk Elizabeth Smith resigned after being indicted on embezzlement charges.”
http://www.islandpacket.com/front/story/928155.html
By anonymous August 7, 2009 at 2:16 pm
SHE IS CARRYING HER OWN BOXES OUT OF THE GOVERNOR’S MANSION!
SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE IS READY TO GET THE HECK OUT OF DODGE! WOW!
“Jenny Sanford: We’re moving out of Governor’s Mansion”
SEE FULL STORY AND PHOTO:
http://www.thestate.com/136/story/893310.html?storylink=omni_popular
***********************************************************************
More women moving boxes from the governor’s mansion …
PHOTO:
http://www.politicalpunt.com/politics/jenny-sanford-moves-out-of-south-carolina-governors-mansion/
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' August 7, 2009 at 2:24 pm
It’s over.
By ethel krabitz August 7, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Good for her, she is clearly a sensible woman.
What a shame her dumbass, douchewad husband didn’t have enough self-control to spare his family all this pain.
By anonymous August 7, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Jenny Sanford out of gov’s mansion
“The governor’s wife played a key role throughout the scandal, taking a primary role in getting Sanford’s GOP rivals in the state Legislature to quiet calls for his resignation.”
By anonymous August 7, 2009 at 2:37 pm
The women are doing all the heavy lifting. How pathetic.
MORE PHOTOS:
http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=77055&catid=2
By anonymous August 7, 2009 at 3:06 pm
“Jenny Sanford Bolts S.C. Gov’s Mansion”
Efforts to reconcile with cheating hubby hit a snag
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/politics/NATLJenny-Sanford-Bolts-SC-Govs-Mansion-52678482.html
By 1+1=3 August 7, 2009 at 3:09 pm
this must have to do with continued contact with maria
By Freddie Guy August 7, 2009 at 3:32 pm
If anything in this story is newsworthy, it is the fact that we still have a Governor.
I thought that he was on permanent vacation.
Rest assured that he will be as effective as ever!
Fred
By Perro Amarillo August 7, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Perhaps, Marco Bozo could move into his office and sleep on a cot …
By southernmapart August 7, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Steel magnolias know how to get a job done!
By CNSYD August 7, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Sanford in Beaufort? Can Davis be far behind?
By shiya August 7, 2009 at 4:46 pm
Doesnt SC have a law where you need to be separated for a year to get a divorce?
By anonymous August 7, 2009 at 5:10 pm
First Lady Jenny Sanford moves out
slideshow:
http://www.thestate.com/slideshows/gallery/893586.html#http://media.thestate.com/smedia/2009/08/07/14/430-Sandfordmove_td187.standalone.prod_affiliate.74.jpg
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' August 7, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Shiya, SC provides a grounds for divorce based on one year of continuous separation, but a divorce can be obtained in less than one year’s time if the divorce is sought on “fault grounds” such as adultery, habitual drunkeness, etc.
By Curious Georgette August 7, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Move has been brewing a while
http://www.islandpacket.com/1493/story/928516.html
By He's so pitiful ... August 7, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Now the LuvGov can party with the ladies and not have to travel so far to South America.
He may just invite some of his C-Street friends over for an old-fashioned orgyfest at the taxpayer-paid diggs.
By Liberty for Me August 7, 2009 at 7:28 pm
WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!…OUR COUNTRY IS MORE FACIST EVERYDAY AND THIS IS WHAT YOU SPEND TIME ON??…IN THIS DAY AND TIME WE CAN NOT WASTE TIME OR BRAIN MATTER ON KATE PLUS8…OR WHO IS IN YOUR BED.
By CNSYD August 7, 2009 at 7:33 pm
shiya, one year separation is a rule but it can be negated by abuse, adultery, alcohol addiction, etc. Looks like Jenny can hit him up on one of those since he has already publicly confessed.
By scooter August 7, 2009 at 8:10 pm
I am not sorry for either of them. Poor boys. They really must have it bad. Teenagers can be cruel, so I do feel badly for them. But the adults–just pack up and leave. Did you watch her moving on TV? She did this is full view of the camera/media. He behaves like an idiot, but she is icy cold and in full command of her goals. I have no sympathy for her.
By Jeffy August 7, 2009 at 9:48 pm
This clearly proves all of Liz’s claims! I knew she was right all along.
By calhoun fawls August 8, 2009 at 3:42 am
Dueling press releases can’t be good for a marriage. What a soap opera. You sure the Sanfords are not from Anderson County?
By Rose August 8, 2009 at 5:24 am
The Two Shall Become One Flesh…
Marriage is for Life!
http://www.cadz.net/tony.html
http://www.marriagedivorce.com/mdreform2.htm
By anonymous August 8, 2009 at 6:16 am
Mr. Sanford,
Sir, how was your European vacation? uh uh uh well, not too good …not too good…
Sir, where were you on friday? uh uh uh workin’ man! workin’ down in Beaufort …wait,let me finish…
Sir, yesterday there was a big u-haul truck and several women, one of which appears to be your wife, loading boxes and taking personal items out of the governor’s mansion, are you concerned about this at all? …uh uh uh …well, I fully support her on this …
Sir, if you support her sir, then why didn’t you help her move her stuff out? …uh uh uh well, I was out of town that day…
Sir, at a minimum, sir, you could have hired someone to move her? …she got to Columbia so darn fast and moved everything out …uh uh uh quite frankly, I just couldn’t keep up …
Sir, if she took everything lickety-split, then why sir are you saying that you support her and that this was a family decision? …uh uh uh well, it just sounds better in the newspaper …I want everyone to think it was my idea … uh uh uh wait, let me finish…
Sir, how are people going to think that it was your idea when she took her clothes out on hangers and personal items in baskets with a bunch of women friends when you weren’t there? …uh uh uh …it all happened so fast, they were like a bunch of crazed women and they moved really fast…they had SUV’s and a U-Haul and there was a bunch of women …uh uh uh …I’ve never seen anything like it…
Sir, so what do you think about all these women moving all this stuff out of the governor’s mansion? …oh, I support it ..besides, they are going to have a yard sale next week and sell the rest of my stuff, you know, women like yard sales….
Sir, so what are you going to do this fall and next year, are you going to just hang out at the mansion in Columbia by yourself or what? …I really haven’t thought about that …there is really nothing to do in Columbia …I think I’ll travel more …yep, that’s it, I’ll travel more…
Sir, what about this Governor gig that you have going, I mean, are you going to take anytime to be governor? …hey, easy there scooter, I have a blackberry …uh uh uh no wait, I have two blackberries and …no wait, I have two blackberries and a cell phone plus you can reach me through the back-channel, don’t forget about the back-channel …
Sir, are you telling us that you are going to manage the state from blackberries? …uh uh uh, yeah, great system huh? Aren’t these blackberries great, check this one out? It works all over the world, hehehe …
Sir, what if there is an emergency? …well, listen I gotta go, my battery is low on my cell phone and my voicemail is full, call me back tomorrow when I have a full charge …beep beep beep….I think we are losing our cell service in this area …no wait, that’s just the sound of my battery dieing …call me tomorrow, uh uh uh …wait let me finish….
By liz shepherd August 8, 2009 at 7:25 am
My Observations:
Hmmmmm yes Lindsey did say if they could fix the marriage… GO AWAY MARK SANFORD.
Beaufort- Sanford family. The PLANTATION…. a great place to be… all protected.
Continued contact with Maria…. No. THIS MARIA is continuing the contact… but not with Mark.
( How do you solve a problem like Maria????? HINT HINT MARK> YOU CANNOT AT THIS POINT. You could have a long time ago, when I was begging you to stop abusing and mistreating me as a human being, an American citizen that is catastrophically ill)
Moving pictures… She had on her wedding rings. Blow up your pic.
Jenny Sanford took ” THE SHIRT OFF OF MARK”S BACK OUT OF THE DOOR”
wouldn’t that mean ” EVERYTHING”… could it be boxes of documents??
Could it be financial instruments collected over the past month globe trotting.
You tell me.
I know without a shadow of a doubt that my whistleblower complaint shook and rocked Mark like he has shaken and rattled me for eight years.
And the last year… yes it did turn into something more. It started with my personal telephone call to the Inspector General at SSA. I spoke to him and told him I have this fraudulent Inspector General report…. per GRESHAM BARRETT.
BARRETT GO AWAY>>> NO GOVERNOR’s MANSION FOR YOU EITHER. You might run away too you see. Your wife wouldn’t deserve that would she????
THESE PEOPLE ARE CRIMINALS AND THEY STOP LAW ENFORCEMENT from helping We the little people.
NOTICE> Mark has totally ignored me. He hasn’t apologized to me and my family.
And for the record, yes I do worry about his kids. They are being exposed to brainwashed cultists. C STREET IS A RELIGION AND I AM A SACRIFICE AND THE PEOPLE OF MY STATE DON”T CARE
By Connie August 8, 2009 at 9:03 am
What is C-street everyone peridically mentions?
By Tim August 8, 2009 at 9:30 am
…like being to busy to ‘govern’ is actually a problem. sheesh. That’s why I’ve voted for Sanford at every opportunity. ..Because he told me that even if he weren’t busy, he wouldn’t do anything in office. That was Jesse Ventura’s campaign promise, too—and I expect them to uphold it. Man, this scandal was perfect strategy. Government in harmonious gridlock. Job well done, I say.
By Jeffy August 8, 2009 at 10:26 am
Liz, let me guess….you like the X Files? You know it’s just a show right?
By sick of it all August 8, 2009 at 12:16 pm
WHO IN THE HELL IS RUNNING THIS STATE?
If Sanford is here, there, and yonder all the time he can’t be running it. The Republican Party is circling the drain, statewide and nationally, because of this type of foolishness that ultimately hurts so many people.
Liz, I don’t understand what happened with your situation, but I hope it was resolved.
By Tom August 8, 2009 at 2:32 pm
DON’T CALL MY CELL PHONE; I WONT ANSWER MAIL;
I LIKE TO GO HIKING ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL.
MY CAR’S AT THE AIRPORT; BUT MY HEART’S OVERSEAS;
TO HECK WITH OUR STATE; I’LL JUST DO AS I PLEASE.
MAYBE GO BACK TO ARGENTINA; MY WIFE’S AT THE BEACH;
MY STAFF IS CONFUSED BECAUSE I’M OUT OF REACH.
MY SPIRITUAL ADVISOR KNOW’S I’VE “CROSSED THE LINE”;
“I’LL EARN THEIR TRUST BACK”; BUT IT’S GONNA TAKE TIME.
THE MANSION IS EMPTY; MY PRESS MAN HAS GONE;
I CAN’T FACE THE PUBLIC; I GUESS I’LL STAY HOME.
By CNSYD August 8, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Connie, the book “The Family” will help answer your question. Also the comic strip “Doonesbury” is running a satire on it right now.
By MKinVA August 8, 2009 at 6:44 pm
“Obviously, there are a number of theories as to what’s going on here..” What? We’re not morons. I don’t think we need to actually see her hit him over the head with the frying pan. She staged the exit with her usual “flair” and her message to the people of SC is obvious. You don’t call all your girlfriends (and the press) to help you move out of the house because you’re working on your marriage. All of those “we”s in her press release referred to Jenny and the boys, not Mark.
By shiya August 9, 2009 at 3:06 am
A post in the State from someone apparently close to the gossip in the Sanford circles:
-The Sanfords will be divorcing..apparently Mark has been communicating with Maria even in Europe.
-Mark is planning an out of state trip to either New York City, Atlanta, Miami or any city that has a direct flight from Buenos Aires to tryst with the ‘love’ ‘lust’ of his life Maria Chapur. Expect this trip to come anytime soon now that the family has moved out of the mansion.
-Once the divorce papers are signed, sealed and delivered, expect Mark Sanford and Maria Chapur to c-u-m out of the open in official state functions and Mark’s associates parties.
-Mark and Jenny mutually agreed that Sullivan Island will go to Jenny and the boys. Mark gets to keep the plantation. Also said to have agreed that once the divorce is final, Jenny and the boys will move out of state with Maria Chapur transitioning as South Carolina’s de facto First Lady during Mark Sanford’s last few months as governor.
By shiya August 9, 2009 at 7:14 am
continued from the same poster..
-Divorce is a coming within a year.
-Apparently during their trip together, Mark told Jenny that he has decided where his heart is and will be and it was not with her….(We all know where it is obviously!). During the same trip it early talk of amicable division of properties was done and how to go about with breaking the news that daddy does not love mommy anymore to the boys was touched on.
-It was decided that during the European trip, the news about the agreed separation and eventual divorce was to be told to the boys. Boys took the news obviously in a sad fashion. It seems the three older boys now in their adolescence were more upset than the youngest boy, whom daddy calls his ‘buddy’.
-Mark was upset about his wife’s very public moving out from the mansion yesterday as it was agreed they were going to move out without media publicity.
-Mark continues to secretly communicate with Maria Chapur even during the European trip.
By CNSYD August 9, 2009 at 10:01 am
When will the SC GOP get the gonads to rid us of Sanfraud immediately?
By Laura Campbell August 9, 2009 at 11:00 am
Just hope that the boys come out of this okay. They didn’t deserve any of this.
By shiya August 9, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Did you see his picture in the state today? he is grinning fom ear to ear….hardly heartbroken that he has lost his family.
By anonymous August 10, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Where’s Waldo? Did he report to work today?
Could Waldo not find any clean clothes at the governor’s mansion today?
Who’s going to do Waldo’s thinking for him now? His wife is gone and his communications director is gone.
What about Waldo, what’s he going to do?
Where’s Waldo?