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Establishment “Republicans” in South Carolina plowed more than $2 million of special interest money into a dirty, deceptive campaign to eradicate the conservative wing of their supermajority earlier this year.
It didn’t work…
S.C. speaker Murrell Smith and his uni-party allies failed to take out a single member of the S.C. Freedom Caucus. Not only that, their negative attacks against these conservative lawmakers backfired. As a result, several establishment GOP lawmakers wound up losing their seats – enraging Smith and putting him in a difficult spot within his own uni-party caucus.
These electoral results buoyed conservatives heading into the 2025-2026 session of the S.C. General Assembly – raising hopes that the caucus’ expanded influence would serve as a check on the uni-party’s results-challenged, crony capitalist rule.
That’s exactly what was happening, too… at least until the morning of August 5, 2024. On that date, as FITSNews first reported, federal and state law enforcement agents descended upon the home of Freedom Caucus vice chairman R.J. May III. Upon arrival, they executed a search warrant in connection with an ongoing federal investigation into child sex abuse materials (CSAM, a.k.a. “child porn”).
Numerous devices were seized from May’s property during the raid, with federal officials indicating they expect charges to be filed imminently.
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May disappeared from the grid in the aftermath of the search – and didn’t resurface until the convening of an organizational session of the S.C. House of Representatives at the State House in Columbia earlier this month. Days later, Freedom Caucus leaders belatedly confirmed to FITSNews that May had been suspended from the organization “for some time.”
How long, exactly? No one seems to know for sure…
May has yet to be formally charged in connection with the ongoing investigation. If (more likely when) he is, the presumption of innocence so foundational to our justice system obviously applies to him. In the court of public opinion, however, the investigation into May is already providing ample fodder for his political enemies – and causing significant headaches for the Freedom Caucus.
Our audience will recall May wasn’t just the Freedom Caucus vice chairman, he ran a consulting firm which targeted GOP incumbents for defeat. That’s made him an even more inviting target for the establishment as he and his colleagues deal with the fallout from the federal investigation.
This week, numerous current and former members of the Freedom Caucus were targeted by text messages linking them to May – and to disgraced hip hop mogul Sean Combs (a.k.a. Diddy), who is currently facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
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RELATED | CAUCUS CONFIRMS RJ MAY III’S SUSPENSION
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One message sent to statewide recipients suggested S.C. Freedom Caucus founder Adam Morgan – who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congress earlier this year – may have engaged in a “massive cover-up” involving May.
“Did S.C. Freedom Caucus founder Adam Morgan engage in a massive cover up?” the message stated. “What did Adam know, and when did he know it? Adam’s right hand man, best friend, and former vice chair of the S.C. Freedom Caucus R.J. May is under investigation for child sexual abuse materials. It’s sickening!”
Numerous other members of the Freedom Caucus reported receiving similar messages targeting them in their districts.
For his part, Morgan didn’t seem especially concerned about the attacks, attributing them to political opponents worried about his future plans – which could include statewide campaigns for elected office.
“A statewide attack text just went out about me,” Morgan wrote on X. “Now who could be worried about me running statewide…”
While Morgan brushed off the broadside, May’s scandal isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Even though the establishment failed in its previous bid to score political points against Freedom Caucus members, May’s scandal has given its attacks renewed energy – and effectiveness.
Bottom line? Any forward momentum the conservative wing of the Republican party enjoyed as a result of its resounding victories in the GOP primary elections in June will continue to be blunted as long as the investigation into May is driving news cycles…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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7 comments
It’s nice to learn, after the results of the Presidential election or the Fourth Congressional District race, that some Republicans might actually care that personal morality might be important in a political candidate.
We need to clean house in Columbia
RJ the shits fixin to hit the fan! You sorry sack of garbage!
RJ the shits fixin to hit the fan!
I’ve generally been a fan of Morgan for the most part (some of his stuff is a little fruity) , but the questions being raised are fair ones and he needs to answer them. People need also to be mindful that there are also documented cases of dirty players doing clandestine IT stuff to plant kiddy porn on people’s computers – a couple of years ago there was a fairly prominent national level female reporter whose husband was a targeted for this and it was only after taking the computer to an out-of-country (Israeli?) forensic firm that they were able to uncover that a federal agency contractor was behind the scheme.
[citation needed]
How is it a Freedumb Caucus member under investigation but it’s the “establishment” that’s referenced in the headline?