Columbia, SC (WLTX) – The South Carolina House Ethics Committee voted unanimously to reconsider an ethics case against Gov. Nikki Haley.
“Hopefully it’ll be a fair and impartial review of facts and the testimony of witnesses so that we can determine, better determine, and be informed about the allegations against the Governor,” said Kershaw County Rep. Laurie Funderburk, a Democrat. Hers was the only vote against the initial vote to dismiss the complaint against Haley.
The committee’s decision came after a meeting late Wednesday in which Haley’s lawyer argued that the case shouldn’t be revisited.
Earlier this month, the same committee voted to dismiss all charges against the first-term governor. At issue is her time as a fundraiser for Lexington Medical Center and as a consultant for Wilbur Smith Associates, a consulting firm.
Haley was still a member of the House of Representatives when she held those jobs…
I wish I’d been there to hear the discussion, but I couldn’t get away at that time this evening.
What I would have wanted to hear would have been an explanation of why every Republican on the panel voted to end the investigation so recently — earlier this very month — but has now voted to reopen.
Suddenly, the case has merit, it seems.
Let me say that again another way: Within the same month, every single GOP member of the committee has changed his or her mind from “no” to “yes.” One doesn’t know whether to say “Thanks be for miracles” or “Hey, wait a minute…” Here’s a thought: Do both.
What caused this? Could it be as simple as “there were some feelings out there that more investigation needed to be done,” as chairman Roland Smith put it? In other words, that the people of South Carolina sort of collectively said “B.S.” to the vote to dismiss the charges?
Or was it meddling by the mean ol’ speaker? Nope. I saw Bobby today and asked him why he keeps picking on poor Nikki. “I’m not,” he said. So there you have it.
Are you worried that the gov will be distracted by this from the sterling job she’s doing for us, the trembling masses who elected her? Fear not:
“It’s a shame that South Carolina’s political system is once again failing the people and that politics are trumping the law. The governor will do what she has done time and again throughout this process, before and after the claims were dismissed: be open and honest about her work as a legislator, and stay focused on the things that matter to South Carolinians – getting our economy moving and reforming the backwards, good old boy system of government that so clearly thrives in Columbia,” said Haley’s spokesman Rob Godfrey after the decison.[sic]
I’m sure that makes you feel better. Reading back over that statement, I’m reminded of something we used to say long ago when we were on the old mainframe system in The State‘s newsroom: “I think he’s got that on a SAVE/GET key.” If you don’t understand, that’s OK: It’s technical…