COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina's attorney general said Thursday he wants state ethics commissioners to review Gov. Mark Sanford's use of state aircraft and any other potential violations of state law.
The request from Attorney General Henry McMaster follows Associated Press investigations into the Republican governor's use of state aircraft for personal and political trips, and his flights on commercial airlines.
McMaster, a fellow Republican who has said he will run for governor in 2010, made the request in a brief letter to Herb Hayden, executive director of the commission, which enforces the state's ethics laws.
The request comes amid high scrutiny of Sanford's use of state resources following the revelation that he had an affair with a woman from Argentina. After the publicity in June, Sanford
reimbursed the state $3,300 for part of an economic development trip he took there.
A potential ethics probe was welcomed by the leader of the state Senate, President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell. McConnell wrote a letter to one of his colleagues and Sanford's most vocal critic, state Sen. David Thomas, who is conducting a legislative investigation of the governor's conduct.
McConnell, a Charleston Republican, said the investigations should begin immediately and include looking into any misconduct at other state agencies, including the Department of Commerce.
But McConnell, who has been largely silent on Sanford's affair and its political fallout, suggested that Thomas, a GOP candidate for Congress, tread carefully. He warned that the Senate would have to serve as an impartial jury if the House voted to launch impeachment proceedings against Sanford.
House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham said the House will decide how to proceed after the Ethics Commission investigates.
"We're not going to witch hunt, but we're not going to close our eyes and pretend something doesn't exist or turn our back to violations of the law," said the Cayce Republican. "I don't care how many times someone upholds the law. Those things are serious, no matter how many times you did what was right."
In his defense, Sanford has called the AP characterization of some of his flights "misleading" and says they are taken out of context in part because he has used state planes less than his predecessors. He also says he's ridden in the same type of seats as other governors on commercial flights.
"We've really tried to go to extra mile, when it comes to watching out for the taxpayer," the governor said Thursday. "I look forward to the Ethics Commission or anybody looking at the way we used that plane."
Sanford has either appointed or reappointed all of the commission's nine members.
"What a farce! Having the Ethics Committee handle this matter is essentially the same as having Sanford investigate himself," said state Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler, who believes McMaster's office should handle the investigation.
Records reviewed by the AP show that since Sanford took office in 2003, the two-term Republican has taken trips on state aircraft to locations of his children's sporting events, hair and dentist appointments, political party gatherings and a birthday party for a campaign donor.
Misuse of state resources can lead to civil or criminal penalties under the state's ethics laws. Any public official found to have used state property for personal financial gain is subject to as much as a $5,000 fine and five years in prison. Only incidental use that does not result in additional public expense is exempt.
Last month, the AP revealed how Sanford had flown in pricey seats on commercial airlines at taxpayer expense, despite a law requiring lowest-cost travel.
"If one wants to change the standard to say, no business class tickets for any governor, or any secretary of commerce, or any economic development team going forward, that would be fine," Sanford said. "But don't come up with a different standard, which is to a degree what Sen. Thomas is trying to do."
Thomas said the governor's comments show he doesn't understand the panel's role.
"The governor's misunderstanding quite a bit if he thinks this is basic politics," Thomas said. "This is a process of accumulating data on accusations of wrongdoing. We're not making opinions, but gathering evidence. I'm not scrutinizing other governors."
In an opinion piece published in state newspapers on Thursday about the state plane use, the governor said his dentist appointment was for a chipped tooth treated on his way to a television news interview, and he questioned why he would have flown to a haircut at a discount salon that does not take appointments.
He has not addressed other state plane flights detailed in the AP's report, including one that took him to a donor birthday party, and one that took him to a North Carolina airport for a commercial flight to a GOP gathering in Texas.
"Inevitably, I am certain that there is something our office did less than perfect in my constant moving around the state, but I can say with equal clarity that it was always within the context of trying to maximize my days and watch out for the taxpayer in the
process," the governor wrote in the op-ed.
Ethics commissioners will review the request and determine if it warrants a full investigation, Hayden said. If so, staff members will investigate and present findings to the commission, which could convene a hearing before a three-member panel.
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