Blogger Hoax Stokes Rumor Mill

It’s the most popular political parlor game in South Carolina …

What (or who) is really behind all of the Nikki Haley revelations/ rumors/ allegations/attacks/ smears of the last few months?

Theories abound, but for a brief moment on Thursday it appeared as though the elusive answers would be forthcoming. That’s when conservative blogger Charlie Speight of The Garnet Spy – an ardent Haley supporter – published a “story” alleging that a variety of individuals were attacking Haley because they were being blackmailed with a tawdry list of criminal charges.

The list of charges included cocaine possession and distribution, homosexual activity in public restrooms, solicitation and computer hacking – and were alleged to have taken place in Columbia and Myrtle Beach.

Speight’s post, however, was a hoax.

“The author has no proof that any of this stuff is true or really happened. In fact it’s made up,” Speight wrote in a tiny postscript at the bottom of his article (a notation that most of the state’s mainstream media ignored).

Speight isn’t the first Haley supporter to get the internets all in a tizzy by suggesting that he had knowledge of the motivation behind the Haley accusations.

Three days after FITS founding editor Will Folks went public with news of his “inappropriate physical relationship” with Haley, national conservative blogger Erick Erickson of RedState.com claimed that Folks had been paid to smear Haley – and that he knew who was behind it.

“We know who paid Will Folks to push this story out there,” Erickson wrote.

Within 24 hours, however, Erickson had backed down from his accusation completely. In fact he published a follow-up post saying “I have no clue if anyone is behind Will Folks doing this” and admitted further that he was merely stringing the media along “like Folks has done.”

Needless to say Erickson’s antics severely damaged his website’s credibility, something we know a little bit about here (although we sacrificed our credibility to tell the truth, not to make something up).

Which brings us to our point … why are Haley supporters “making stuff up” about the alleged motivations of Haley’s accusers? Seriously … why would they risk their own credibility to advance admittedly false stories? Do they think they are teaching certain people (like our founding editor) a lesson? Or do they just want to muddy the waters further (as if that were possible) in the hopes of perpetuating the “victim” angle?

Or – more likely – are they just hoping to cash in on increased internet traffic by exploiting the ongoing parlor game?

That’s our guess … particularly seeing as a Haley victory in the 2010 gubernatorial election is a foregone conclusion.

And that brings us to our “other” point … what was the real motivation behind the Haley “attacks?”

Clearly, the most popular theory among State House insiders is that the scandal was contrived in advance by Haley and Folks to garner sympathy for her candidacy and insulate her against future affair-related attacks. The alleged framework is pure genius, too – control the attack while letting the candidate play the “me against the world” card.

Bear in mind that Folks was not only a former Haley consultant but her most aggressive new media cheerleader – repeatedly highlighting her fiscal conservative credentials as he mercilessly bashed all three of her GOP primary opponents for being status quo RINOs. Folks even endorsed Haley after her supporters – led by Erickson – launched a vicious smear campaign against him in the wake of his acknowledgment of a relationship with her.

Hmmmm …

Haley benefited because the affair allegation was never proven, which enabled her to sweep to victory in the GOP primary on the back of voter outrage against the “good ole boys” who were trying to bring her down. Meanwhile, Folks benefited from a surge in internet traffic and advertising revenue.

This theory seems to fit the facts, but it strains credulity on many levels … not the least of which being fact that a second, unrelated allegation was lobbed at Haley nine days after Folks’ original claim.

Also the various pieces of evidence that Folks did present – text messages, phone records and eye-witness accounts – may not have proven that an affair took place, but they did successfully silence critics like Erickson who said that he was pulling the whole thing out of his ass. Additionally, they were probably more than enough to convince Haley’s husband (assuming he’s got more than three brain cells in his head).

Other popular theories hold that Folks was paid to come forward by one of Haley’s three GOP rivals – Andre Bauer, Henry McMaster or Gresham Barrett – with some politicos speculating that Folks pointed an accusatory finger at the campaign of U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett in a deliberate effort to throw reporters off the scent.

Sources close to Haley believe that the Bauer connection is the most likely explanation, which they base on the fact that Bauer aide Larry Marchant was the second person to come forward claiming to have had physical relations with the

Still others theorize that Folks was acting on behalf of Democratic nominee Vincent Sheheen, while another theory holds that he wanted Sheheen to win for selfish reasons – so that his longtime friend, S.C. Sen. Tom Davis, could run against the Democrat in 2014.

Trust us, you could fill up Williams-Brice Stadium with the number of people who allegedly “paid Will Folks” to go after Haley – just as you could fill up Death Valley in Clemson with the number of groups Folks allegedly sought to extort money from in an effort to buy his silence.

Seriously … the Haley for Governor campaign, S.C. Club for Growth, Reform SC, SCGOP, S.C. Policy Council, Republican Governor’s Association, Republican National Committee … each of these groups has been associated with an alleged Will Folks “shakedown scheme.”

So what’s the truth?

Obviously Haley isn’t suing Folks … which means it’s unlikely that there will be any criminal or civil discovery (or sworn testimony) as to the veracity of his affair claim or the circumstances surrounding it. And Folks obviously isn’t releasing any information prior to November … which means that he’s either out of ammo or holding his cards until Haley becomes governor.

One thing is clear, though … as much as people say they’re sick of talking about the Haley rumors, they’re clearly not sick of reading about them – which may be one reason why pro-Haley blogs are now getting into the action.