Robo-Calls Linked?

Nearly identical “robo-calls” made in a trio of S.C. State House races may be linked to similar unidentified, unsolicited phone calls made in the race for Speaker of the House.

Law enforcement officials are investigating all of the calls … none of which appear to be legal.

One of the recorded phone calls asks if female Democratic candidates should “invite (their) fellow Democrat Nancy Pelosi to come and campaign” with them, but never identifies who is responsible for the message. That’s a big “no-no” according to South Carolina campaign law.

The calls in question were launched against a pair of incumbent female Democrats – Rep. Anne Peterson Hutto (District 115, Charleston County) and Rep. Vida Miller (District 108, Charleston and Georgetown Counties). Sources tell FITS that similar calls were made in Dorchester County against Christine “Chrissy” Jackson, who is running against Republican Chris Murphy in the race to replace retiring RINO Annette Young.

Sources tell FITS that agents of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) have contacted both Reps. Hutto and Miller regarding the phone calls made in their respective races.

Last week at a contentious meeting of the S.C. Republican Caucus, House Speaker Bobby Harrell is said to have admitted being responsible for another potentially illegal robo-call – this one designed to help his campaign for another term as Speaker. Received by numerous Republican activists a week ago, these robo-calls begin with a female narrator saying that the good ole boys in Columbia who oppose government transparency were “at it again.” The narrator then urged callers to contact their elected officials.

That call raised eyebrows seeing as Harrell has staunchly opposed government transparency in the past – but is now working to open up a non-binding Caucus vote in an effort to intimidate any Republican who opposes his reelection as Speaker.

Frankly, the fact that Harrell would put himself in such a precarious position baffles us. After all, he recently boasted that he had “112 commitments” for Speaker (out of 124 House members), and as much as we like his opponent – fiscal conservative Ralph Norman – we . Of course Harrell has a reputation for being one of the most paranoid politicians in the Palmetto state – and for playing dirty.

A year ago, GOP operative Ginny Allen was charged with six counts of making illegal, unsolicited phone calls in Aiken County, S.C. Allen confessed to making the calls (ostensibly on behalf of S.C. Sen. Greg Ryberg) and was allowed to enter a pre-trial intervention program rather than face jail time.

Allen is now employed by the Spartanburg, S.C. public relations firm owned by SCGOP chairwoman Karen Floyd – who some suspect is involved in this batch of calls. Making matters worse for Floyd, Robert Cahaly – the political consultant rumored to have aided Harrell in the messaging for the calls – works out of a rented office inside the SCGOP headquarters.

SCGOP spokesman Joel Sawyer flatly denied that Floyd had anything to do with the calls, terming such accusations “absolutely false.”

Jason Zacher, a spokesman for the S.C. House Republican Caucus, said that his organization had nothing to do with the calls, either.

One Lexington County GOP operative said the blame for all of the calls falls squarely on Harrell and his communications aide, Greg Foster. The operative says that Harrell and Foster are running the telephonic operation through Harrell’s Palmetto Leadership Council PAC. Foster has been retained by the Palmetto Leadership Council previously, receiving $7,000 for “professional services” in June of this year.

“(Harrell) stripped Nikki (Haley) of her committee assignment because she fought for transparency,” the operative told FITS. “Now we are to believe he is supporting transparency?”

“The hypocrisy is staggering,” the operative said, adding that Harrell was interested only in preserving his ability to dole out retribution to GOP House members who voted against him in the Speaker’s race.

Developing …

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