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by JENN WOOD
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Days before South Carolina voters head to the polls to choose their nominee for governor, the legal and political saga surrounding South Carolina congresswoman and 2026 gubernatorial candidate Nancy Mace continues to draw scrutiny.
What started the drama, though?
FITSNews recently obtained a recording of what appears to be an early phone conversation between Mace and Alexis “Ali” Berg — the woman whose sexual assault allegations would later become the centerpiece of Mace’s widely publicized “scorched earth” campaign against her former fiancé, Charleston entrepreneur Patrick Bryant, and several of his associates.
The approximately 45-minute call provided a rare window into the origins of a controversy that has since spawned multiple lawsuits, an ongoing investigation by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), congressional speeches, discovery battles, sanctions motions, and a sprawling collection of civil litigation now being overseen by retired circuit court judge Donald B. Hocker.
Rather than offering definitive answers, however, the recording raises new questions about how the allegations evolved from a private conversation into one of the most consequential political narratives of South Carolina’s 2026 gubernatorial race.
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HOW THE STORY BEGAN
Mace introduces herself to Berg on the recording as Bryant’s former fiancée and asks whether their discussion can remain private.
“I am Patrick’s former fiancé, and also a member of Congress,” Mace said early in the call. “I hope that this conversation could be private and not shared.”
The initial portion of the discussion focused not on allegations of sexual assault – but on Berg’s prior employment with Bryant’s company and a wage-and-hour lawsuit she previously filed involving overtime compensation.
Mace asked Berg about the lawsuit, her dates of employment, her role within the company, and her experiences working for Bryant. Berg described serving as both a production coordinator and, for a period of time, Bryant’s personal assistant.
As the conversation continued, Mace began asking broader questions about workplace culture, alcohol, and Bryant’s interactions with women.
“Was there anything working for him that was weird, awkward or off?” Mace asked. “Was there anything weird with women… in the workplace?”
The recording appears to capture Mace gathering information and attempting to better understand Berg’s experiences rather than presenting a fully developed narrative about what may have occurred.
That distinction is noteworthy given what would follow.
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THE CONVERSATION CHANGES…
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For roughly the first fifteen minutes, the call focused largely on Berg’s employment history, her prior overtime lawsuit against Bryant, workplace culture, and her experiences working at Go To Team.
The tenor of the conversation shifted dramatically around the eighteen-minute mark, when Mace began describing what she says she discovered on Bryant’s phone.
At that point, Berg asked Mace what she meant when she referenced an alleged assault.
Mace responded by describing photographs and videos she claims to have seen, telling Berg she appeared to be unconscious on a couch and insisting she could not possibly have consented to what occurred.
“You’re passed out,” Mace told her. “There’s no way that you consented to what maybe I believe Osborne did to you. You were passed out, you were completely out.”
John Osborne is a businessman from Johns Island, S.C. Along with Bryant and Eric Bowman – a businessman from Sullivans Island, S.C. – he has been accused by Mace of being a “predator.”
When Berg asked whether Mace was saying Osborne was involved, the congresswoman acknowledged she did not know for certain, but said she was told it was him.
“I don’t know if it was him,” she said on the recording. “I’ve been told it was him, but I don’t know.”
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Moments later, Mace continued describing what she believed occurred, telling Berg: “he did it in front of Patrick and Eric, and Patrick filmed it.”
The exchange is notable because Berg does not appear to independently describe the alleged assault before Mace introduced many of the specific details that would later become central to the public allegations and ensuing litigation.
In fact, shortly afterward, Berg explicitly told Mace she had no memory of the events being described.
“Honestly, no memory of any of that,” she said. “I told you what I remember.”
Mace acknowledged as much.
“I know, which is why you told me what your lawsuit was over the overtime, I was like, she doesn’t know,” Mace responded.
The conversation would later become even more consequential as Mace discusses possible civil litigation, evidence preservation, and obtaining damages from Bryant. At one point, she tells Berg she believes a civil lawsuit is warranted and offers assistance if Berg wants to pursue justice.
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FROM PRIVATE CONVERSATION TO PUBLIC CRUSADE
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Several months after the call, Mace would take to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and deliver the speech that transformed the dispute into a national story.
In her address, Mace said she had discovered photos and video on Bryant’s phone depicting an alleged sexual assault involving Berg and claimed she personally informed Berg about what she had found.
The speech became the foundation for Mace’s public campaign against Bryant and others, helped inspire federal legislation related to voyeurism and privacy protections, and ultimately coincided with the filing of a civil lawsuit by Berg against Bryant, Bowman, Osborne and related entities.
Since then, the litigation has expanded dramatically.
Berg’s lawsuit remains active. So does a parallel breach-of-contract action against her brought by Assignment Desk Works. Mace has pursued intervention efforts, privilege claims, and federal court removal proceedings. Multiple parties have sought sanctions against one another, while discovery disputes have continued to consume substantial court attention.
At the center of many of those fights remains a basic question: what evidence exists, who possesses it, and how it may be used.
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THE EVIDENCE QUESTIONS THAT WON’T GO AWAY
As FITSNews has previously reported, Berg testified that she had never personally viewed the alleged assault video and did not possess it. Her attorneys acknowledged during court proceedings that no such video was in their custody or control.
Those admissions have become a recurring point of contention throughout the litigation. Bryant and his attorneys have repeatedly argued that key allegations were made publicly long before any court, attorney, or investigator involved in the civil cases had independently reviewed the materials Mace claims to have discovered.
The dispute has fueled a series of motions seeking an in-camera review of evidence allegedly obtained from Bryant’s phone, as well as ongoing battles over discovery, privilege claims, and the admissibility of digital materials.
Meanwhile, Mace has maintained that the evidence she uncovered led her to report information to federal authorities, SLED, and ultimately to Berg herself.
The newly surfaced recording does not resolve those evidentiary disputes.
What it does provide is a glimpse into the relationship between Mace and Berg before the lawsuits, before the congressional speech, and before the allegations became a defining feature of South Carolina’s gubernatorial race.
The call appears to show Mace seeking information, asking questions, and attempting to piece together events that would later become the subject of extensive public allegations and litigation.
Whether readers view that conversation as the beginning of a victim-advocacy effort, the start of a broader legal campaign, or something in between will likely depend on how the remaining facts — and the evidence at the center of the dispute — ultimately unfold.
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ONE WEEK TO GO
The timing of the recording’s emergence is impossible to ignore. Just days before Republican primary voters cast their ballots, Mace remains locked in multiple legal battles that continue to generate new filings almost weekly.
Once viewed as the race’s presumptive frontrunner and potential “change agent,” Mace has spent much of the past year navigating courtroom disputes tied to the same allegations that helped define her campaign.
Meanwhile, the underlying litigation shows no signs of ending soon.
Judge Hocker continues to oversee discovery disputes, privilege claims, sanctions motions, and competing requests for relief across several related cases.
He also received a message from Berg’s attorney, Marybeth Mullaney, about the audio call provided to our media outlet, which she referred to as a “serious violation” of the confidentiality order imposed in the case.
“Earlier this week, I received a telephone call from Will Folks of FITSNews, who informed me that he had obtained a copy of the recording,” Mullaney wrote, arguing that the audio file had been shared “in violation of the order.”
“Mr. Folks did not tell me who provided it to him,” Mullaney added.
Mullaney declined to comment for this story.
While the courts continue sorting through those issues, the recording serves as a reminder of where this entire saga began: not with a lawsuit, a sanctions motion, or a campaign speech — but with a simple phone call.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.
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