By fitsnews – July 17, 2012
CANDIDATE ACCUSED OF PERJURY … AGAIN
Less than 24 hours after Lexington County (S.C.) Republican activist Katrina Shealy submitted the signatures necessary to appear on the 2012 general election ballot as a petition candidate against State Sen. Jakie Knotts (RINO-Lexington), a court filing is accusing her of committing perjury on an affidavit related to her candidacy.
The allegation was made by South Carolina political consultant Sheri Few – who took Shealy to court last month for allegedly failing to pay her campaign consulting bills.
In a court filing related to that case, Few claims that Shealy has “engaged in a campaign to intimidate and harass (her) regarding her claim for monies owed under a political consulting contract” and of “spread(ing) rumors” regarding Few.
Later, the document references Shealy’s “propensity for saying things which are untrue, even under oath.”
What’s all that about? Well, attached to the filing are numerous documents related to Shealy’s long and winding road to a viable State House candidacy.
Shealy was one of nearly 200 candidates booted from the 2012 primary ballot earlier this year after she failed to properly file required income disclosure forms (which are intended as a safeguard against politicians taking undisclosed payments in exchange for peddling particular interests). At the urging of her BFF (S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley), the SCGOP executive committee accepted an appeal of its decision to exclude Shealy, but the S.C. State Election Commission (SCEC) then refused to put her on the ballot.
Shealy unsuccessfully appealed that decision before the S.C. Supreme Court … but is now poised to be on the ballot as a petition candidate after she collected more than enough signatures to run against Knotts.
During that process, Shealy initially claimed that she had attempted to file her income disclosure form online but failed because she pressed the “save,” not “send button. Later she changed her story, saying that she brought the form along with her when she filed her statement of candidacy – as the law requires – but that she was told she did not need to submit it.
“My folder contained my candidacy paperwork, including my notice of candidacy and pledge, candidate filing form, and a copy of the Statement of Economic Interest form,” Shealy writes in her second affidavit, dated on May 8 of this year. “No one asked for the Statement of Economic Interest form.”
An affidavit submitted by a Lexington County GOP official who was present at the filing location (and tasked with collecting these documents) disputes Shealy’s recollection, however – and apparently so does Shealy.
In an email sent to Lexington County GOP chairman Steve Isom dated April 19, Shealy admits that she “did not bring (him) the hard copy of my statement of economic interest,” and refers back to her initial excuse about hitting the wrong button.
Hmmmm …
In our previous coverage about the petition candidates, we made it perfectly clear that Shealy – for her many faults – would be preferable to Knotts in the State Senate. We like Knotts, but he’s never been a vote for the things we believe in, whereas Shealy we believe could be persuaded to our way of thinking on a more regular basis.
Having said that, we’re not going to expend a whole lot of effort doing much more than covering the fireworks associated with this backyard brawl.
Polling has shown Shealy has a real shot at defeating Knotts, but his affidavit issue is a major land mine for her … as is whatever else the rotund RINO has up his sleeve.
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