Mark Sanford: “If You Having Girl Problems …”

“LUV GOV’S” SOAP OPERA ROLLS ON …

|| By FITSNEWS ||  As U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford welcomes his former fiancee Maria Belen Chapur to Washington, D.C. this week (with taxpayers subsidizing her travel in and around the nation’s capital), there’s been considerable speculation as to how we’ve been getting so much inside scoop.

And more than a few people questioning our reporting about taxpayer time and resources going toward logistical support for Chapur’s visit …

In fact Sanford and his chief of staff Scott English have reportedly been pulling their hair out trying to identify – and quash – the flow of information.

All we can say is “good luck with all that.”

Anyway, while the “Luv Gov” and his longtime martyr do their best to plug the leaks in Washington, another stream of information is bubbling over further south – in the genteel Georgia town of Savannah.

There, FITS readers will recall, a wealthy socialite had been romantically linked to Sanford – as referenced in this piece.

FITS questioned Sanford last September – at which point he categorically denied being romantically involved with anyone other than Chapur.  He did, however, admit to having dinner with a woman named Kelley Parker of Savannah, Georgia – whom he described as a “friend.”

Now, sources tell FITS Sanford and Parker spent considerable time together last fall – including a getaway to his family farm in Beaufort County and a visit to Auldbrass Plantation in Yemassee, South Carolina.

Auldbrass is owned my Sanford’s longtime friend Joel Silver, the famed Hollywood film producer.

So … was Sanford cheating on Chapur last fall?  And if so, was Parker the “other other woman?”

Sources close to the “Lov Guv” tell FITS the couple was “on a break” last year – and added that Chapur may have taken advantage of the relationship hiatus, too.

“If (Sanford had) been enjoying the company of eligible females, it’s highly probable (Chapur) may have been on some dates of her own,” the source said.  “She’s a beautiful woman who would likely have many opportunities.”

Others painted a vastly different view of things …

“(Chapur) thinks the relationship is exclusive, but it’s not on his part,” a source close to Sanford’s office told us.

Sanford and Chapur became engaged in August of 2012 – three years after Sanford dramatically confessed to their affair at a tearful press conference at the S.C. State House.  That admission prompted an investigation into Sanford’s travel practices that nearly led to his impeachment in 2010 – and ruined his presidential aspirations for 2012.

His then-wife Jenny Sanford publicly exited the Governor’s Mansion (with the couple’s four children) after attempts at reconciling her the marriage proved fruitless.  She filed for divorce in December 2009, which the governor declined to contest.

Nine months after proposing to Chapur, Sanford pulled off a remarkable political comeback by winning a special election to the state’s first congressional district – the seat he held from 1995-2001.

Of course last fall – right around the time the Parker rumors were swirling – Sanford called off his engagement to Chapur via a lengthy Facebook post (which he later removed from his page).  Chapur later told reporters she was blindsided by Sanford’s pronouncement.

As we’ve previously reported, Sanford is said to have made his nauseatingly navel-gazing social media move in an effort to get his ex-wife “off of his ass and to make her look bad.”  At the time, Jenny Sanford was in the process of putting the screws to her philandering ex-husband in court.

Still is, we’re told …

Apparently the relationship between Sanford and Chapur has been “strained” of late.  The governor and the woman he once infamously referred to as his “soul mate” have serious trust issues, we’re told.  In fact Chapur has reportedly become jealous of a woman working in Sanford’s D.C. office.

“They fake it in front of each other for Mark’s benefit,” one source said, referring to the woman.  “But they hate each other.”

According to our sources, Chapur has refused to let the woman ferry her around D.C. on her visits, forcing the congressman to make “other arrangements.”

On our dime, obviously …

Why does any of this matter? After all, isn’t it generally accepted that Sanford’s personal life is an ongoing disaster?  And don’t people tolerate it because they like his voting record?

Sure … at least that’s been the narrative in the past.

But as Sanford’s ideological betrayals mount (making him increasingly erratic to deal with), the added drama of a combustible personal life can’t be a good dynamic. Oh, and then there’s the forthcoming tell-all by a former gubernatorial staffer that’s got him beside himself.

Add it all up and it’s only a matter of time before the man known as “Representative TMI” decides to vent his spleen about how all of this makes him feel … which will remind voters again of their contempt for the guy.  In fact our bet is his staff (what’s left of it) is holding him back from posting another 2,400-word tome on his feelings as you read this …

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