Sanford Looked for Real Estate in Argentina

(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»

Commerce secretary didn't know where to reach guv

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford’s recent Argentine excursion wasn’t the first time he had gone missing: His commerce secretary didn’t know where to reach him in June 2008, either, emails reveal. “Need contact number for (Sanford) ASAP,” the secretary wrote to a Sanford staffer on the 28th—a day the South Carolina governor saw his lover, he has since admitted. The email was part of 3,300 pages of communications released to the State. More»

Argentine mistress saw another man, but told Gov, 'You are my love'

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford’s lovey-dovey e-mails were discovered—and e-mailed to a South Carolina newspaper—by another man his mistress was dating, a former coworker tells the New York Times. He says the mistress, who’s been identified as María Belén Chapur, began dating a young Argentinean man a few months into her relationship with Sanford. He saw one of her e-mails to Sanford, and hacked her account to get the rest. More»

Influential first lady could give crucial boost to Nikki Haley

(NEWSER) - Jenny Sanford is getting back into politics—by endorsing a relative underdog in the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary. Mark Sanford's estranged wife announced her support for Nikki Haley, a "principled, conservative, tough and smart” candidate, in the five-way race for the nomination to replace her husband. Haley was a strong ally of Mark Sanford's but has distanced herself from the governor since the scandal surrounding his extramarital affair. 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»