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An embattled prosecutor has returned to the office of South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson following a series of professional ethics complaints filed by the family of her supposed paramour during a failed bid for S.C. Senate.
While the exact date of her reappointment remains unclear, Christina Allard has returned to the State Grand Jury (SGJ) division of the attorney general’s office amid allegations of an adulterous affair and flagrant misconduct with a county magistrate.
Once hailed by The Post and Courier as a “dark horse in the Republican field,” Allard’s vie for S.C. Senate District 35 came to a screeching halt on May 31, 2024, when the father-in-law of her supposed paramour filed two complaints to the Office of Disciplinary Council (ODC).
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RELATED | CHRISTINA ALLARD DENIES ADULTEROUS AFFAIR
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According to his S.C. supreme court filings, Allard confessed to an extramarital affair with Kershaw County Magistrate Herbert Clay Carruth III on May 29, 2024. The following afternoon, she supposedly threatened her husband with criminal charges for communicating with Carruth’s family.
“At this point, I have asked that you not be charged criminally for trying to blackmail me, but I cannot guarantee where this case will go (sic),” Allard texted her estranged husband on May 30, 2024. “I suggest you tell your pal to stop… before people end up in jail. This does not have to be ugly.”
The political newcomer was furthermore accused of campaigning alongside Carruth, despite S.C. appellate court Rules (SCACR) expressly prohibiting judges from improprieties enumerated in the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct.
Within days of the ODC complaints being leaked to FITSNews, Allard agreed to address the allegations during a phone call with the author on June 4, 2024. She thereupon admitted to going through a divorce — but emphasized it was neither scandalous nor criminal.
“I did not confess to anything,” countered Allard during the call. “It’s frustrating that I am in the position now to have to address these types of ridiculous claims … it’s really disheartening that that’s where the politics are. I am definitely seeing the nasty side.”
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? #BREAKING: S.C. Senate District 35 candidate Christina Allard has been served with a subpoena to surrender all text messages and media relating to her purportedly adulterous affair with a Kershaw County Magistrate.
— Andrew Fancher (@RealAndyFancher) June 7, 2024
Of interest? The family court ordered subpoena was served… pic.twitter.com/T5HC0QjONw
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Two days after denying the allegations submitted to the ODC, Allard was served with a subpoena to surrender all text messages and media relating to her purportedly adulterous affair. She thereupon joined a candidate forum hosted by the Sumter County Republican Club.
“I have been threatened,” Allard told a live audience. “I have been extorted. I had a private investigator hired to follow me… I have been defamed. Signs calling me disgusting names have been placed around the district. That’s politics… I fight. That’s what I do.”
Amid a proliferation of yard signs calling Allard a “homewrecker,” the political newcomer secured 16.60 percent of the primary vote across a four-way race for this S.C. Senate seat. On June 25, 2024, local businessman Mike Jones secured the Republican nomination following a contentious runoff.
Come seven weeks after losing her bid, Allard’s 2021 Jeep Wrangler was observed at the attorney general’s office on Assembly Street in Columbia, S.C. According to a spokesperson, she has since returned to her former position under attorney Creighton Waters.
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“Allard has presented herself… as a highly competent and ethical attorney who singlehandedly brought down the drug cartels,” submitted the ODC complainant in May. “She is just as responsible for knowing the Code of Judicial Conduct as she is the Rules of Professional Conduct.”
As of this publication, Allard stands accused of violating Rule 8.4, 407, SCARC and Rule 4.5, 407, SCARC for behavior purportedly recorded during her campaign. According to the same filings, her supposed paramour stands accused of at least four similar violations.
On May 29, 2024, litigators supporting the magistrate’s wife in Carruth v. Carruth deployed spoliation letters to preserve supposed evidence of adultery to Carruth, Allard, Wilson, S.C. fifth circuit solicitor Byron E. Gipson, Kershaw County sheriff Lee Boan and Kershaw clerk of court Janet C. Hasty, among others.
The attorney general’s office was not immediately available for comment, but sources familiar with Allard’s rehiring described her as a skilled lawyer who has repeatedly earned high marks from her colleagues. They also noted her position was left open during the brief period she resigned – with the expectation she would return to the office if her political career did not pan out.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Andrew Fancher is a Lone Star Emmy award-winning journalist from Dallas, Texas. Cut from a bloodline of outlaws and lawmen alike, he was the first of his family to graduate college which was accomplished with honors. Got a story idea or news tip for Andy? Email him directly and connect with him socially across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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3 comments
“paramore”
That’s the band, Slick.
Why is the AG sticking their neck out for someone doing this kind of crap? Maybe she was a good lawyer, but she’s not now; her judgment was extremely poor, and there are plenty of good lawyers out there that could do her job. Are we just that hard up for talent at the AG’s office? If so, maybe those pay bands need to be re-visited so they can compete in the labor market.
and PS: the State Grand Jury is not a section of state government that you want the public to think that anyone but those with the highest level of ethics would work, given the nature of the behind-the-scenes powers they have.