Sanford Cops to Affair With Argentine Woman

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford is missing no more. The AWOL South Carolina governor surfaced early today at an Atlanta airport, saying he had just returned not from hiking the Appalachian Trail, but from cruising the Buenos Aires coastline, The State reports. As to why his staff said he was hiking, Sanford said he’d told them he might hike the AT, but later changed his mind. “I said ‘no’ I wanted to do something exotic.” 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»

(AP) - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford rebuffed his lieutenant governor's call to resign today, two months after he admitted an affair, saying he will not be "railroaded" out of office and plans to finish his term. At a news conference hours after Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer called for him to step down, Sanford said the people of South Carolina want to move past the scandals. More»

(NEWSER) - A trove of emails from Mark Sanford's office contains no discussion of his recent disappearance or the resulting scandal, the State reports. Critics suspect the South Carolina governor is holding something back. “It’s a very legitimate suspicion,” a professor says. “Complex organizations in the 21st century are highly dependent on e-mail.” Within the innocuous emails, however, are clues to another communication system. More»

Inquiry finds he broke no laws, as governor says he won't resign

(NEWSER) - South Carolina authorities say philandering Governor Mark Sanford did not use state funds to visit his Argentine mistress or break any laws, the State reports. “The man has been open with us,” said the director of the State Law Enforcement Division after an investigation. "We have found no improper use of public funds." More»