Media Sucked Up to Sanford to Get Access, Emails Show

Civil committee slams SC gov for travel expenses

(NEWSER) - South Carolina's ethics commission has hit Mark Sanford with 37 violations for using state funds for inappropriate travel expenses, including a trip to see his Argentine mistress. Besides the governor's South American trysts, Sanford also bought business-class tickets for state travel—South Carolina requires officials to fly cheaply—and, in nine instances, used state aircraft for personal trips. A hearing on the ethics violations will start early next year, the State reports. More»

Gov racked up $400K in travel, some illegal

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford has repeatedly violated South Carolina law by using state aircraft for personal trips, an AP investigation has found. Records reveal that the philandering governor has used state planes to travel to dental appointments, his children's sporting events, and political party gatherings. One one occasion, Sanford used a state aircraft to travel to Columbia from the coast when the only appointment he had was at his hair salon. More»

(NEWSER) - The vise is tightening around Mark Sanford's political career. South Carolina officials, including fellow Republicans, are lining up to urge the governor to resign, reports the State. The pressure has ramped up considerably since Sanford's admission yesterday that he'd "crossed lines" with other women besides his Argentine mistress. The governor, however, is resisting, notes the Washington Post. "He is finished discussing this matter," said a spokesman. More»

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford acknowledged today that he met with his Argentine mistress while on a state-funded trip last year and promised to reimburse South Carolina's coffers, the State reports. The state paid $8,000 for the governor to travel on business to Brazil and Argentina last June, and he met with the woman during the trip. More»

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford went before the cameras to confess and apologize yesterday, a ritual that is typically “a schtick, a plastic act of absolution performed by men who are just as plastic,” writes Gary Kamiya of Salon. But not this time. Sanford “got all weird and human on us.” Suddenly “instead of a press conference, we had been carried into some Eternal Bedroom of Misery.” it was a trainwreck, Kamiya writes, but it was also that rare thing in a politician: an unscripted expression of emotion. More»