|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
by WILL FOLKS
***
We reported exclusively last month on the South Carolina Senate oversight committee‘s impending review of the office of S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson – the Palmetto State’s top prosecutor and one of its top candidates for governor in 2026.
While it’s not immediately clear what this legislative committee uncovered, S.C. Senate majority leader Shane Massey – who is the chairman of a subcommittee with responsibility over the attorney general’s office – has notified the public of an impending hearing regarding its findings.
According to a notice (.pdf) posted this week, Massey’s subcommittee will gather in Columbia, S.C. on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. EST. Joining Massey will be state senators Karl Allen, Chip Campsen, Tom Davis, Brad Hutto and Ronnie Sabb.
In addition to the influential members of this panel (Massey is the chamber’s majority leader while Hutto is its minority leader), the chairman they ultimately report to is none other than Thomas Alexander, the president of the Senate.
***
As we reported last month, Senate investigators reportedly uncovered several “procurement-related questions” during their review of the office – prompting a recommendation to refer some of those questions to the S.C. Office of Inspector General (SCOIG).
That didn’t happen, however. According to our sources, a staff attorney for S.C. Senate clerk Jeffrey S. Gossett reviewed the findings and reportedly recommended against a referral to SCOIG. Adding a layer of intrigue to the mix? The staff attorney who reportedly made this recommendation – Cassidy Murphy – is a former employee of the attorney general’s office.
While some have questioned the optics of such a decision, as we previously reported “there is no suggestion Wilson’s office applied pressure on Murphy (or anyone in the Senate) regarding these deliberations.” Massey told us there was “internal staff discussion” about a possible referral of certain matters to the inspector general – but senators concluded evidence of wrongdoing was insufficient to warrant such a referral.
***
RELATED | PAMELA EVETTE GOES NUCLEAR ON ALAN WILSON
***
Also, our sources have stated none of the “procurement-related questions” raised by the committee involve Wilson personally – although we suspect those particulars will be clarified at next month’s hearing.
Wilson has served as the Palmetto State’s top prosecutor since 2011. He is not seeking a fifth term in 2026, choosing instead to campaign for governor.
While the review of Wilson’s office is routine – i.e. it happened to be on the committee’s schedule this summer – the timing of the hearing is potentially problematic for the four-term prosecutor as he enters the heart of his 2026 gubernatorial bid.
“A friendly environment it is not,” a source familiar with the oversight deliberations told FITSNews. “Three Democrats are on that panel – and while none of its Republican members are known as being hostile toward (Wilson), it’s the sort of setting which could open the door to a lot of unwanted scrutiny.”
Senators have privately told FITSNews they do not wish for the proceeding to become “politicized,” although they agreed there was only so much they could do to prevent that from happening in the prevailing electoral climate.
“They don’t really get to decide that,” one of our sources noted.
***
THE NOTICE…
(S.C. Senate)
***
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.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
3 comments
It is a shakedown.
Someone powerful wants something from the Attorney General. If he gives it to him, this becomes a love fest. If not, they bash him in an election year.
AG Wilson will cave and give them what they want. He is running for governor and he will not let anything harm that effort.
You may be right. Since Wilson OK’d about $75M in attorneys’ fees for his old firm on that nuclear waste case that in no way involved enough work to even justify a $2M fee, I’m guessing somebody in the Senate wants an AG case assignment of similar lucrative qualities. That being said, anyone running a large state agency for over 14 years can get dinged on some non-core mission issue like procurement, or some HR decision, or some other rather tangential issue. If it’s truly peanuts, then Wilson should stand his ground…if he folds, then it tells us alot about his true character.
yep