South Carolina News and Sports
An uncharacteristic drive-by shooting in a Newberry County neighborhood has the sheriff’s office asking for help.
Major Todd Johnson says the drive targeted a home near Prosperity Tuesday morning. “A woman and her two teenage children were inside the home,” said Johnson. “At least five rounds from a pistol struck the home.”
A substantial reward is being offered for information in this case. Johnson said a drive-by shooting is highly unusual for the rural county–almost unheard of. [Read more...]
Chairman Jim Harrison faces press
A subcommittee of the South Carolina House of Representatives met Tuesday to begin a process that could result in the impeachment of Gov. Mark Sanford. The panel is charged with determining whether impeachment should be recommended to the full House Judiciary Committee. (Audio: 30 min)
Today, according to subcommittee chair Rep. James Harrison, the group gathered to take care of “a little bit of housekeeping, but we have two basic things: we have the governor’s absence and the items that were included in the ethics report. As of today, the members have not had a chance to receive the ethics report; they have received it today. This will give them time to review that over the Thanksgiving holidays and we will then begin to address those issues that are included in that report.”
The ethics report comes a separate investigation than today’s impeachment process. State Ethics Commissioners decided there was probable cause to have hearings on the governor’s travel spending. Commissioners agreed on 37 charges against the governor. Those charges will be taken into account in the following weeks of impeachment consideration.
Ethics Commission summary list of allegations (PDF)
A contingent of attorneys for Gov. Sanford observed the panel discussion. The governor was not there. After the proceedings, one of his attorneys issued this statement:
“The Legislature today began an extraordinary and extremely rare process. Only eight governors have been impeached and removed from office in the history of the United States, and only two in the last 80 years * both of whom were indicted on felony charges. The Ad Hoc Committee must decide whether there is clear and convincing evidence that the Governor committed a serious crime or serious misconduct in office that has corrupted the system of government in South Carolina. This standard is intentionally high.
“The Governor’s temporary absence from the state in June does not meet this high standard. As was pointed out in the hearing this afternoon, the state Constitution ensures that the chain of command in state government is not threatened because the Lt. Governor is automatically transferred command in the event of an emergency during the governor’s temporary absence.”
- Ross Garber, attorney for the Office of the Governor
The House Judiciary Subcommittee will meet again on December 1, 3 and 7. The date of December 9 has also been set aside in case the time is needed.
A 57 year old Columbia man has been sentenced in federal court to eight years and one month in prison for attempting to arrange sex with a child. Dennis Michael Gallipeau was targeted for investigation when he contacted an undercover police officer who was posing online as the mother of a young girl. Gallipeau engaged in several computer chats with the undercover officer and made plans to travel to Detroit for a sexual encounter with the daughter. When Federal agents confronted Gallipeau, he agreed to allow them to examine his computer. Agents found images of child pornography, and these resulted in the charges that led to the prosecution and sentencing of Gallipeau.
Governor Mark Sanford faces 37 charges for using state planes for personal and political use. The ethics report, now made public, is in the hands of SC Attorney General Henry McMaster. Charlie Condon served as state attorney general from 1995 to 2003. In his expert opinion: “It raises a real eyebrow because this is not really what I expected, I thought it would be technical, merely lack of intent accusations that you could look at and dismiss,” says Condon.
Condon says the allegations amount to an abuse of trust at the very least.
“I feel certain that there will be at least a sizable number of members of the General Assembly that will view this as impeachable,” says Condon.
An investigation report released Monday by the State Ethics Commission showed the governor facing 37 charges for using state aircraft for personal and political use. This information will play into an impeachment resolution considered today at the Statehouse. State Representative Gary Simrill sponsored that resolution and spoke with ABC News.
“There are two Mark Sanfords. There’s the Mark Sanford who talked about being a penny pincher and talked about flying coach. Then there was the real Mark Sanford that not only reimbursed himself when he shouldn’t have, but flew first class,” says Simrill.
The four Republicans who co-sponsored the impeachment resolution contend Sanford was derelict in his duty and wrong to mislead staffers into thinking he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, when in reality he was in Argentina with his mistress. Today’s debate is strictly on the five-day absence the governor had in June, it does not entail the Ethics Commission’s report that was released yesterday.
