November 24, 2009
Sanford Faces 37 Charges by State Ethics Board
By SHAILA DEWAN
NY Times

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina will face formal ethics charges on
*37* counts of using his office for personal financial gain, according
to a list of allegations issued by the state ethics commission on Monday.

The charges on the list include spending state money on business-class
plane tickets, instead of flying coach; using state aircraft to attend
political and personal events, like the birthday party of a campaign
contributor; and using his campaign fund for noncampaign expenses, like
a ticket to President Obama’s inauguration.

The list provides the first details of the accusations that the ethics
commission will pursue after a wide-ranging review of Mr. Sanford’s
travel and financial records, citing incidents from September 2005 to
April 2009.

A separate impeachment resolution has been filed in the State
Legislature, but the ethics commission and the legislative action so far
have dealt with different accusations. The ethics commission reviewed
charges of misuse of public resources, while the impeachment resolution
deals with the governor’s secret trip to Argentina in June to visit a
woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

A legislative committee will take up the impeachment resolution on Tuesday.

The 17-page document released Monday, which is similar to an indictment,
lists 18 occasions when Mr. Sanford flew business class or first class
when, it maintains, “no exigencies existed to justify an upgrade from
coach,” as required by state law. All but two were international
flights, but in one instance Mr. Sanford flew first class from Columbia,
S.C., to nearby Atlanta.

There are nine counts alleging the misuse of state aircraft, which
accuse Mr. Sanford of using government planes to travel to get a
haircut, attend a son’s sporting event, participate in a book-signing,
go to a birthday party and transport family members to the “soft”
opening of the Hard Rock Park entertainment complex in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The remaining 10 counts charge Mr. Sanford with using money from the
Sanford for Governor Campaign fund for personal or nonofficial expenses.

Mr. Sanford spent $864.90 to attend a Republican Governors Association
meeting in Miami on Nov. 14, 2008, and “a hunting trip in Dublin,
Ireland” on Nov. 16 and 17, 2008, the notice says. The expenditures
listed in the 10 counts total $2,940.68.

“We are confident that we will be able to address each of these
questions, none of which constitutes findings of guilt and none of which
we believe rise anywhere near to the traditional standard of
impeachment, now that we finally have an opportunity to present our side
of the story,” said Butch Bowers, Mr. Sanford’s lawyer, in a statement.

A hearing on the charges will probably take place early in 2010.

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What the hell was he "hunting" in Dublin? Truffles? Pubs? Cailíns?

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If you are flajim, herring, loogy, GC boater, johnson, topbassdog, rob,
achmed the sock puppet, or one of a half dozen others, you're wasting
your time by trying to *communicate* with me through rec.boats, because,
well, you are among the permanent members of my dumbfoch dumpster, and I
don't read the vomit you post, except by accident on occasion. As
always, have a nice, simple-minded day.