Argentina trip might be pivotal

COLUMBIA -- Gov. Mark Sanford's desire to spend time with his mistress this summer caused his political collapse, and falling for that same temptation a year earlier might make him the first chief executive in South Carolina's history to be impeached.

The seven legislators who are studying whether Sanford should be forced from office circled back Monday to the time he spent with his mistress in her home country of Argentina.

Rep. Greg Delleney, a Chester Republican, said Sanford used state business as "cover" during a 2008 trade mission to South America as a chance to get away with his lover. The trip originally was planned for Brazil, but a stop was added in Buenos Aires after Sanford requested that additional meetings be scheduled in Argentina.

For that reason, Delleney, who filed the original impeachment resolution, wants to add "abuse of power" to the list of reasons Sanford should be impeached.

"To me," he said," it's just obvious that this trip was a personal trip and state business was kind of thrown in as a cover."

The governor's in-house counsel Swati Patel argued that the trip was legitimate. She said the decision to add Argentina to the trade mission came about when Joe Taylor, secretary for the Department of Commerce, invited the trade delegation to hunt birds in Cordoba, Argentina. The bird hunt was paid for by the participants out of their own pockets.

Sanford did not want to spend the whole time hunting with the others, so after considering stops in Chile and Panama, the Commerce Department arranged economic development meetings in Buenos Aires.

Sanford reimbursed the state about $3,300 for the Argentine portion of the trip this summer after he admitted that he saw his mistress during the trip, the point at which he said the affair became physical.

Sanford told The Post and Courier in June that he did not specifically ask for the meetings to be held in Buenos Aires.

"What we said was in Argentina," Sanford said at the time. "Obviously, the logical place there in Argentina is Buenos Aires because it is the commercial center of the country. I get how it looks."

Rep. James Smith, a Columbia Democrat, said the reimbursement looks to some as an admission of guilt.

Rep. Jim Harrison, a Columbia Republican who is leading the impeachment talks, asked Patel why Sanford paid back the state for that leg of the trip if the governor thought it was legitimate.

Patel said Sanford, at the time, did what he thought was best. He would be criticized either way, she said, and he chose reimbursement.

Patel said the State Law Enforcement Division conducted a review of the 2008 trip and found no wrongdoing and no misuse of funds. She also said that Sanford did not instruct the Commerce Department to extend the economic development trip specifically to Buenos Aires, nor did he plan any of the details.

Harrison has remained outwardly neutral during the three earlier hearings, but Monday he acknowledged that the Argentina trip could lead to the governor's impeachment. He said he had not made up his mind.

"The governor's office told us that the 2008 trip was for official business," he said. "If you look at all the events surrounding it, it's difficult to believe that."

The House Judiciary Impeachment Subcommittee was expected to wrap up its work Monday, but Harrison said the legislators will be back Wednesday after they have had a chance to digest the new information.

See our special section on Governor Mark Sanford

The subcommittee did take some action Monday, agreeing to eliminate from their consideration four trips aboard state aircraft that Sanford allegedly took for personal and political reasons.

Five other trips remain under their scrutiny.

In earlier hearings, the subcommittee agreed that most of the charges by the State Ethics Commission were not serious enough to be considered for impeachment.

Those charges include less than $3,000 in campaign reimbursements and Sanford's seats in first- and business-class on flights for seven international trips.

Sanford also is accused of serious misconduct for his clandestine five-day trip to Argentina in June to be with his mistress that left the state's chain of command in question.

What's next?

The House Judiciary Impeachment Subcommittee meets at 2 p.m. Wednesday to finish deliberations on Gov. Mark Sanford's trips to Argentina in 2008 and June 2009 and on whether the two-term Republican should be impeached. The subcommittee's recommendation is expected to be passed on to the full 25-member House Judiciary Committee.

Charges

Dropped

• 18 — counts that Sanford flew first- and business-class on flights for seven international trips
• 10 — counts that Sanford improperly reimbursed himself from his campaign
• 4 — counts that Sanford used state aircraft for personal and political use

REMAINING

• 5 — counts that Sanford improperly used state aircraft

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.