A former top strategist to U.S. congresswoman Nancy Mace unloaded on her in a recent deposition tied to a Charleston County civil case.
Wesley Donehue – a veteran state and national corporate/political strategist – was deposed on April 28, 2025 by attorneys representing Mace’s former fiancée, Charleston, S.C. entrepreneur Patrick Bryant.
Mace has accused Bryant (and others) of all manner of illegal activity – allegations he has staunchly denied.
Donehue has made no secret of his disdain for Mace in recent months – publicly “firing” her as a client last year and pillorying her on social media ever since. As for the deposition, however, he told this media outlet he was not a willing participant in the process.
Per Donehue, attorneys for Bryant deposed him after he declined to provide them with a written statement – and after he was interviewed by agents of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) in connection with their ongoing criminal investigation into allegations leveled by Mace against Bryant and several other men.
These seismic allegations were first made by Mace during her February 10, 2025 “scorched earth” speech.
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“We’re talking about rape, nonconsensual photos and nonconsensual videos of women and underage girls, and the premeditated, calculated, exploitation of innocent women and girls,” Mace said.
Mace’s speech also blasted a justice system which, according to her, lacked “the guts to call them out or hold them accountable.”
“When I uncovered evidence of rape, illegal filming of women, illegal photographing of women, and sex trafficking, I didn’t just see victims — I saw a system which failed to protect them,” she said.
Mace’s speech has sparked significant fallout – including one tangentially related arrest, one termination and multiple civil actions (both against her and initiated by her). It has also put her on a collision course with S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson, whom she has consistently accused of failing to protect women and children in the Palmetto State.
In a statement provided to our media outlet, Donehue said he was not trying to be a part of any legal proceedings involving Mace.
“I didn’t want to talk about these things,” Donehue told FITSNews. “I was questioned by SLED and subpoenaed by Patrick’s attorney after refusing to give them a statement. I have told them everything I know about Patrick and Nancy’s relationship. I hope we can soon move past the soap opera drama and focus on the issues important to South Carolina’s beautiful Lowcountry.”
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RELATED | NANCY MACE PUSHES JUDICIAL REFORM
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Donehue’s deposition, unsurprisingly, paints an unflattering portrait of the third-term congresswoman – referring to her as a “chronic liar who constantly plays the victim card for her own benefit.”
“She sees black helicopters everywhere,” Donehue said. “Everybody’s out to get her.”
“I don’t believe a word that comes out of Nancy Mace’s mouth about anything,” Donehue added. “And that has nothing to do with this specific incident. I just believe that Nancy Mace will say and do anything for personal and political gain.”
Donehue also discussed Mace’s alleged obsession with sex.
“Nancy talks about her sex life in a way that I’ve never heard a client or a woman talk,” Donehue added. “This goes beyond Patrick. This is with multiple partners. She loves talking about sex.”
According to Donehue, “every conversation would devolve into what’s going on in her sex life…something that she talked about all the time and I always felt uncomfortable with.”
Mace sparked a firestorm two years ago when she joked that she was late to a prayer breakfast in Washington, D.C. because Bryant wanted to have sex with her.
Donehue claimed Mace asked him “to intervene in her relationship problems with Patrick Bryant” – which reportedly began in 2023 when she found out Bryant was using a “dating app.”
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“Because she found that, she started thinking that he was cheating on her, so she got into his phone,” Donehue explained.
This reportedly led to Mace uncovering “hundreds of photos and videos” – including images and recordings of women allegedly photographed or videoed without their consent.
According to Donehue, though, these allegations are a far cry from the sex trafficking claims Mace made during her “scorched earth” speech earlier this year.
“There was never any discussion of rape or sex trafficking or anything beyond the fact that he had pictures of naked women taken without their consent,” Donehue said.
At one point, Donehue stated Mace “asked me to blackmail Patrick Bryant” related to the information she had uncovered with the goal of securing 100 percent ownership of certain properties owned by the erstwhile couple.
“That was actually a word I was using,” he said. “When I was talking to people in my company or talking to my wife and (I) literally said, you know, ‘like she’s asking me to blackmail someone.’ You know, asking me to do something that I thought was illegal.”
Donehue also claimed Mace ignored his advice not to join Bryant on a trip to the Caribbean in 2023 after she discovered the photos.
“I said ‘Nancy, you can’t say you fear for your safety and you’re going to the Caribbean with him and some of his friends,'” Donehue said. “Then she said – I remember as clear as day – ‘I’m taking my free vacation to the Caribbean.’ And she said while she was there she was gonna try to get more information out of his phone; and I told her that she need(ed) to contact the authorities, and she asked me why.”
“I said ‘Nancy, as your campaign consultant, if it ever comes out that you knew of women being harmed and you didn’t do anything about it, your career is over,” Donehue continued. “But also, it’s just the right thing to do. And she said ‘I’m going to use this information to get my houses.'”
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While Donehue’s deposition takes numerous swipes at Mace, there are certain excerpts which would seem to validate the congresswoman’s allegations against her ex-fiancée. For example, Donehue repeatedly affirmed that Mace feared for her personal safety and at one point even told him “don’t ever tell Patrick where I’m staying.”
In fact, Donehue stated Bryant – who claimed he was “still in love” with Mace – asked him on at least one occasion if he knew where she was living.
“I said ‘I don’t know,'” he said.
“There was… a lot of conversation about us being concerned for her safety,” Donehue added. “Like I was concerned about it. I mean, I was very concerned about it. To this day, I’m still concerned about it.”
Donehue also said he once observed “a number of bruises on (Mace’s) arm” during a meeting.
“I would call them fingertip size bruises on her forearm, about four of which above her elbow, little bruises on her arm,” he said.
Donehue also noted he had no doubt Mace believed the allegations she was leveling.
“I believe that Nancy believed the things that she was saying,” Donehue stated.
It would appear she still does. Just this week, Mace reiterated her claims against her ex-fiancée.
“Predator and rapist, Patrick Bryant, says he has ‘never raped anyone… never hidden cameras… never harmed any woman,'” Mace wrote on X. “If you aren’t a rapist, why would you film a rape and why would you be filmed raping another? Dozens of women filmed, recorded and stored on your devices for years would like to know why.”
Mace’s office was not immediately available to comment on the revelations contained in the deposition, but a source close to the congresswoman referred to the deposition as “victim shaming.”
“There’s a reason courts don’t allow victim shaming, because it’s designed to protect survivors from exactly this,” the source said. “Survivors of domestic and sexual abuse already face immense hurdles in seeking justice. Too often, they’re forced to endure character assassinations by their abusers, their friends, lawyers, and enablers. Now, the same man who says he can’t recall how many companies he owns wants us to believe he remembers word-for-word conversations from last year.”
“At least he confirmed some relevant details like her significant weight loss from PTSD, fear for her and her children’s safety and fear Patrick Bryant would learn where she was living, the bruises on her body from Bryant physically assaulting her, and the veracity of the images and videos she found of her self and others,” the source added. “The rest of it is just political nonsense and noise.”
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THE DEPOSITION…
(Source)
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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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6 comments
This is exactly why “victim shaming” should be allowed. Many times, the so-called “victim” is either lying, did much to bring about their own misery, or both. We have sculpted laws and procedures so that any woman can claim sexual or physical abuse and a man falsely accused has little or no defense or alternatives. If he is fortunate enough to beat the false allegations, it will cost him his life’s savings and maybe his home to beat it court. The burdens and balances of proof need to swing back the other way.
It is no surprise that people like Mace are not only fighting to keep these injust laws and procedures, but to expand them.
I tell any young man who will listen that they need to revert to older ways of dating and generally being around women. Establish such a firm reputation as one who always acts honorably and with impeccable habits as towards women so that you won’t ever have anyone on the fence about whether you could possibly be a perv or a creep. Do more double dates when you first start going out so there are witnesses. Don’t go on trips and stay in the same hotel room with a woman who is not your wife, or at a minimum get 3 or 4 years of exclusive dating established. Don’t be a drunkard. Don’t hang out with guys who run around and go to strip clubs. Stay away from porn entirely. If you are hiring for a job, and you have two female candidates that are roughly equivalent in qualifications, choose the one who is less attractive. It’s about the only defense you can have against a craven opportunist or female narcissist who will shank you the moment they think they can get something out of it.
I am pretty much on the opposite of every one of your recommendations.
Life in the fast lane….’til you’re not…..
Hope you don’t get burned is all I can say.
So the deposition was taken in a matter filed by an LLC. The LLC was incorporated after Mace’s House floor speech, and the address for the registered agent is mailbox at a UPS store in Mount Pleasant. The Defendants are John Doe and Jane Doe.
The action filed was for pre-suit discovery, where a party can conduct discovery prior to filing suit AFTER a judge grants the petition and after service is made on the defendants. The petition says nothing about the subject of the possible lawsuit, but an LLC formed after the Mace speech could not have been injured or damaged but the speech, so Donohue’s testimony would likely have no bearing if a real cause of action existed. In this case, no order was granted. No service was ever made on defendants by publication. There is a high likelihood this deposition was, by the Rules of Civil Procedure, improper. The witness got a subpoena and had to appear, although his attorney could have challenged whether it was valid, so Wesley probably wanted to give this deposition to drop bombs on Mace.
The attorney went to a lot of trouble to take this deposition. He also probably just put himself in Mace’s crosshairs. Also, there’s a good chance taking this improper deposition was unethical, so he might have just gotten himself an appointment with Disciplinary Counsel.
Still a fascinating read.
There are plenty of female victims of male liars & smearers. I personally know of a few. So let’s not get paranoid, men, please. There is more than enough blame to go around with any gender.