'Hiking' SC Gov Returns From Buenos Aires

(NEWSER) - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admitted today that he has been having an affair with an Argentine woman, Politico reports. “I’ve been unfaithful to be my wife,” the Republican said at a teary and rambling news conference in which he explained his mysterious absence. “It began very innocently,” Sanford said. "About a year ago it sparked into something more than that. I have seen her three times since then, during that whole sparking thing. And at that point, we went into serious overdrive in trying to say, 'Where do you go from here?'" More»

(NEWSER) - South Carolina's AWOL governor is expected to be back at work tomorrow, the State reports. Mark Sanford has been incommunicado for several days, save for a fleeting cell phone signal picked up near Atlanta. Aides say he's been hiking on the Appalachian Trail, though his political opponents are skeptical. "I don't believe it, but he said it and that's what I have to accept," a miffed state senator told the Hill. "He owes an explanation as to why he would do this." More»

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford's embattled staffers really didn't know where he was when he bolted to Argentina to visit his lover last month, the State reports. Emails and phone records show that Sanford's chief of staff called the governor's cell phones 15 times during the trip without getting an answer. His communications director, meanwhile, told curious media that Sanford was hiking the Appalachian Trail, as Sanford had indicated to his staff. More»

Local media dishes details on Argentinian divorcee

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford’s mistress is a 43-year-old businesswoman who works in agriculture, Argentine media is reporting. A divorcée with two kids, Maria Belen Shapur speaks English, Portuguese, and Chinese and lives in an upscale Buenos Aires apartment, Fox News reports. Witnesses described the beautiful brunette with big eyes canoodling with the South Carolina governor at a bar last week, the New York Daily News adds. More»

He admits Florida rendezvous after it goes public

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford's life may have officially become a reality show today. The South Carolina governor announced during an unrelated news conference that he spent the weekend with the Argentine lover who cost him his marriage and nearly his job, reports the State . "The purpose was obviously to see if something could be restarted on that front given the rather enormous geographic gulf between us. And time will tell. I don't know if it will or won't." More»