The South Carolina State Ethics Commission combed through Gov. Mark Sanford’s records and came up with 37 ethics charges involving air travel and campaign funds.

The married governor, who went AWOL for nearly a week this past summer only to return and acknowledge he had been with his Argentinean “soul mate,” was cited by the State Ethics Commission for a number of alleged transgressions, including use of state aircraft and expensive commercial airline tickets when cheaper seats were available.

South Carolina lawmakers, some of whom have been itching to give the Republican governor the boot, have been waiting for the Ethics Commission to act. But the governor’s lawyers say the allegations are minor and technical, and predicted there won’t be any criminal charges — a decision that’s up to the state’s attorney general. A hearing on the ethics allegations will be held next year; Sanford’s term ends in January 2011.

For a fiscal conservative, Mark Sanford sure doesn’t appear to care about being fiscally conservative with his taxpayers’ dollars. Some of the things Sanford allegedly used state aircraft for:

—transporting a staff member from Columbia to North Myrtle Beach, and then both Sanford and the staff member back to Columbia “to participate in a personal event, receiving a haircut.”

—attending a book signing party.

—attending a birthday party for a contributor.

—a personal weekend with family members.

—attending a son’s sporting event.

—going to “the ‘soft’ opening of the Hard Rock Park.”

h/t: Wall Street Journal

Grant Brissey covered everything from hard news and technology, to music, film, and visual arts during his time working for The Stranger. Grant's work has also appeared at Geekwire, and in Billboard,...

5 replies on “More Trouble for Mark Sanford: 37 Ethics Counts”

  1. That’s because republicans like to tell people they’re fiscally conservative, but they rarely are. Bush 1, Bush 2, Reagan, etc…. they all spent like mad when they were in office.

    Their supporters, of course, come back with “yeah, but you democrats spend MORE.” Maybe, but the dems never promised to spend less, whereas the republicans always promise that and rarely deliver.

  2. It’s also in the Washington Post.

    Just shoot him and show that crimes against the state don’t pay, right, hard-on-crime Republic Party of No comrades?

    What? You don’t agree?

    Why am I not surprised.

  3. Especially since North Myrtle Beach is only a 2.5 hour drive to Columbia. Counting going to the airport in each city what’d he save, an hour?

  4. @ 3. That one is my personal favorite. A flight back and forth for him and a staff member “to participate in a personal event, receiving a haircut.”

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