Governor Mark Sanford started his Cabinet meeting Friday afternoon with another apology.

“I wanted generally to apologize to every one of ya’ll for letting you down. I’ve been making legislative calls throughout the morning and yesterday afternoon on my way back from Sullivan’s, apologizing to them, saying I’m sorry,” says Sanford.

Sanford did not go into much more detail than that in the meeting. He did mention his wife and sons, deeply apologizing to them. The governor spent most of Thursday with his family at their beach house on Sullivan’s Island, on the Charleston coast.

First Lady Jenny Sanford released a statement that said she had known about her husband’s affair with Maria Chapur of Argentina since January after she found a letter addressed to the governor. She is now focusing on the livelihood of the couple’s four boys.

Governor Sanford mentioned in the meeting that he did not have to be present for everyone else in the Cabinet to do their jobs properly. As for now, business is usual.

Apparently Governor Mark Sanford has no immediate plans to resign, even after his announcement that he had a relationship with a woman in Argentina. He opened today’s cabinet meeting(which began around 12:45pm) with an apology to his staff, then it was business as usual. 

Sanford has told some reporters that he would not resign.

The special cabinet meeting this afternoon was his first planned appearance since Wednesday’s announcement about the extramarrital affair.   He spent Thursday on Sullivan’s Island with his family.

He specificially named SLED Director Reggie Lloyd in the apology, because Sanford used a SLED vehicle during his trip.  He also mentioned Commerce Director Joe Taylor, for it was on a Commerce Department trip that Sanford says he had dinner with the  woman in Argentina. 

After the apology the cabinet moved immediately onto business as usual, talking about the state’s stimulus money.

First lady Jenny Sanford says she’s focusing on her sons, and is leaving the governor to deal with his career.

Lexington County Republican Senator Jake Knotts is calling for Sanford to resign, and for him to be investigated by state authorities and a Senate panel if he doesn’t.  Democratic Reprepresentaive Boyd Brown of  Winnsboro is pushing for a grand jury investigation into Sanford’s actions.   Republican National Committee member Glenn McCall also says Sanford should resign.

In an exclusive interview with the Associated Press, First Lady Jenny Sanford released she has known about her husband’s affair since January.

Mrs. Sanford says she found a letter to the Governor Mark Sanford from his mistress, Maria Chapur of Argentina. Immediately after the First Lady found the letter, she said she told Sanford to end the affair and she was shocked when she found out he was in Argentina the past week. Mrs. Sanford was under the impression the governor was somewhere, out of state, writing a book, but she was misinformed. In the interview, she made references to her boys’ report cards, as she explained her worries about their state of mind.

Right now, she is most concerned with her four boys and how they are affected by the scandal. She says she plans to take them out of the state for the weekend to take some time away.