Documents Sought In Corrections “Witch Hunt”

State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agents have asked the S.C. Legislative Audit Council and State Senator Phil Leventis to turn over documents related to a controversial audit of the S.C. Department of Corrections, sources tell FITS.

The request is reportedly the first step in a SLED investigation into whether Leventis broke the law by meddling with an “independent” audit of the Department, as has been alleged.  Leventis is also under fire for publicly revealing details of the audit prior to its publication, which is also against the law.

Leventis’ “witch hunt” against the Department of Corrections and its director, Jon Ozmint, began three years ago after Leventis’ neighbor and longtime campaign worker was fired from the Department (along with another employee) for using racial slurs and refusing to provide medical treatment to African-American guards.

You can read the full story by clicking here …

Angered by the firing of his close friend, Leventis has been waging a non-stop taxpayer-funded war against the Department ever since.  In addition to holding hearings on the agency, Leventis transferred his committee assignment so that he could draft budget provisos that would adversely affect the agency.

He also testified on behalf of his neighbor and campaign staffer at a grievance hearing.

In addition to the SLED inquiry, FITS has begun its own effort to collect the relevant documents concerning this drama, sending FOIA requests Friday to the S.C. Legislative Audit Council, Sen. Leventis and Sen. Mike Fair, who is chairman of the Senate Corrections and Penology Committee.

Fair, along with powerful Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman, aided and abetted Leventis’ three-year “witch hunt” by providing him with a stage to conduct the hearings.

Fair and Leatherman were reportedly hoping that the hearings would yield a “black eye” for the administration of S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford, as Corrections is one of the few state agencies currently residing within the governor’s Cabinet.

Now the two are dealing with the backlash from a “witch hunt” that itself seems to have run afoul of the law …

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