All but nine of the thirty-seven ethics violations against S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford have been dismissed by a legislative panel investigating whether or not the second-term Republican governor broke the law relating to travel expenses and campaign reimbursements.
It was a victory for the disgraced chief executive, but he’s not completely out of the woods just yet.
Sanford still stands accused of using taxpayer resources to facilitate an affair with his Latin lover, Maria Belen Chapur, although that issue has not been taken up yet by lawmakers – or the S.C. State Ethics Commission.
An impeachment resolution drafted by S.C. Rep. Greg Delleney also accuses Sanford of neglecting his official duties for five days and lying to the state about his whereabouts.
Still, Sanford will no longer have to answer charges that he used state airplanes for personal and political business, or that he improperly reimbursed himself for costly airline seats – at least not within the context of those being impeachable offenses.
The S.C. House impeachment subcommittee investigating those charges tossed them after Sanford’s lawyers argued that none of the offenses rose to the level of impeachment.
The committee will meet again Monday to continue its deliberations into the remaining charges.
Meanwhile, FITS has just been informed of some breaking developments related to one of the many investigations currently underway into Sanford’s various alleged offenses.
We’ll have a report on those developments soon …
By Liberty For Me December 3, 2009 at 11:59 am
What a shock….this is so silly…
I think it is smarter not to get on a soapbox than to end up looking like you have ulterior motives…This will explode in their faces and ruin chances for Governorship by those leading the charge.
By Todd December 3, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Let him Go! He will be a major has-been in a few months anyway. Quit wasting money and time on this jerk.
By patricia December 3, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Instead of impeachment investigations, focus on obtaining jobs for the many unemployed workers of SC. Sanford is on his way out and this is just political posturing at this point. Probably also to prove to the rest of the US that we are not all dumb as rocks.
By columbia insider December 3, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Why does Scott English look so unhappy?
By Liberty For Me December 3, 2009 at 2:30 pm
patricia …AMEN!!!
By OhNoNotAgain December 3, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Even if they won’t impeach him for the “technical violations” of the Ethics Act of which he is accused, that does not preclude him from being FINED by the Ethics Commission for those technical violations.
By Ynot December 3, 2009 at 4:45 pm
anybody read this one yet?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/03/bernanke-channels-willie_n_378963.html
By Michael Bay December 3, 2009 at 5:03 pm
http://i48.tinypic.com/w1tl4m.jpg
By stooge mcduck December 3, 2009 at 6:18 pm
why do so many “conservatives” (translation- right wing media devouring idiot mouth breathers who never for one moment in their worthless lives had an original thought not first dictated to them by rush limbaugh, glenn beck or sean hannity) make the claim that sanford needs to be let off the hook or that this whole fiasco (100 % brought on by the governor’s lies and misdeeds) is a waste of time. it’s hilarious to listen to such partisan hypocrites justify this fraud’s actions with the comment “get over it.” The problem with the republican party and the general conservative group-think mentality is that they are so inconsistent and so totally devoid of any integrity when it comes to judging or evaluating their own. Even if their principles and ideologies are better than the slimy scumbag democrats, the fact that as a group they are so unintelligent, so unable to think for themselves, and such a bunch of hacks parroting the party line, regardless of facts, makes anyone with a clue dismiss them as a whole. The last thing that republicans and party line “conservatives” are for is accountability if it at all threatens their political agenda in the slightest or upsets the machinery of their party. More than anything else, they treat politics, not as the way to best and most efficiently use tax money for the greater good, but as if their political party was a football team they were sworn by blood oath to support come what may.
By proudofsc December 3, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Ahhhhhh, Stooge, thank you.
By AMAZING December 4, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Thomas Ravenel Co-defendant (Pascal Etcheber) charged with knowingly “operating a stash house” where cocaine was kept and used.
Ravenel case may net another and another.
RE: former state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel’s cocaine case and there might be one more person charged (in addition to Etcheber) , a federal prosecutor said
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Moore said one additional individual could be prosecuted in the government’s examination of cocaine use that brought down Ravenel and probed Charleston’s bar and glamour scene.
Moore declined to name the last impending target but did say charges could come in the next 60 days.
Another suspect, French national Pascal Etcheber — the fourth and last person charged in the investigation so far. Etcheber faces a total of six charges, including five new allegations that surfaced in recent days.
Etcheber was arrested in March and accused of a single count lying to the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement about his knowledge of drug activities around Charleston.
He had been free on $250,000 bail with a stipulation of electronic monitoring and the loss of his passport, until his arrest last week.
Two of the new charges involve Etcheber allegedly trying to influence or prevent a witness from testifying. Those charges stem from a Sept. 18 incident and reportedly are based on e-mails sent to a former girlfriend.
Two of the other charges cover what Moore described as knowingly “operating a stash house” where cocaine was kept and used.
The last of the five new charges covers an allegation that he made false statements in connection to an Aug. 26 court appearance where he sought to alter the conditions of his bond.
If convicted of all the charges, Etcheber faces up to 70 years behind bars but would likely be sentenced to much less.
Prior to his arrest, Etcheber was involved in Ravenel’s social circle. He also was a close friend of Pasquale Pellicoro, another target in the investigation who fled the state after he was indicted in August 2007. He is believed to be living in Europe.
Etcheber is being housed at the Charleston County Detention Center.
http://www.thesunnews.com/news/local/story/1192936.html
*******************************************************************
By AMAZING December 5, 2009 at 8:48 am
July 20, 2009
Former state treasurer Thomas Ravenel is selling off his Lowcountry properties, according to Monday’s The Post & Courier, but said putting Brookland Plantation and his Charleston row house on the market is not tied to his legal bills.
Of the 206-year-old,$4.275 million plantation, Ravenel said that he simply hasn’t had time to put it to much use. He didn’t tell the paper where he was moving or why he was selling the properties.
To the best of our knowledge, Ravenel is leaving South Carolina and taking up residence in New York City. While we don’t know what he is doing there, it could be a fair assumption that it has something to do with real estate.
http://www.wolfereports.com/tag/thomas-ravenel/
********************************************
Thomas Ravenel Selling Brookland Plantation
Price:$4,275,000
http://www.luxuryrealestate.com/989500
********************************************
July 20, 2009
“Ravenel lists his Lowcountry properties for sale”
Former state treasurer Thomas Ravenel has put his Edisto Island plantation and downtown Charleston row house on the market, asking for a combined $8 million.
In a phone interview, Ravenel declined to say why he listed the properties or where he plans to move if they sell. He did say the listings aren’t tied to the legal bills that stemmed from his recent cocaine charge.
“I just don’t have the opportunity to use it much,” Ravenel said of the Edisto property, known as Brookland Plantation.
The 3,440-square foot house, which he said is in “pristine” condition, was built in 1803 and served as an orphanage in the 1960s. Ravenel said he bought it in 2006 because he heard there was an effort to subdivide the 60-acre Laurel Hill Road property, and he wanted to save it.
Chip Hall of Plantation Services Inc. , which is offering Brookland at $4.275 million, said that since the estate was put up for sale in May, there’s been a “good bit of serious interest.” The property is on Shingle Creek and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Meanwhile, Ravenel’s downtown property, which is on Church Street, is listed for $3.8 million by Carriage Properties. The five-bedroom home was built in 1797 and thoroughly restored in 2002, according to the listing.
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/jul/20/real89723/