Sanford asked for additional Argentina meetings
Updated 10:29 a.m., June 26, 2009
COLUMBIA - Not only did taxpayers pay for a trip for Gov. Mark Sanford to go to Argentina last year - the place where his mistress lives - it was his idea to go.
Commerce Marketing and Communications Manager Kara Borie told The Post and Courier Friday morning that Sanford directed the agency to arrange meetings in Argentina for him while he and state officials were going to Brazil on a trade meeting.
Provided
Gov. Mark Sanford with Daniel Osvaldo Scioli, the governor of Buenos Aires province, in June of 2008.
Asked if the governor requested additional meetings in Argentina so he could see his girlfriend, Sanford press secretary Joel Sawyer said, "Absolutely not. It is important to remember the time line. When the meeting was arranged and the trip agenda was set, as the governor said the other day, he and this individual were friends and nothing more. The change of agenda was purely because the delegation was going to be in Argentina anyway and the governor thought it made sense to step into Buenos Aires as well."
Sawyer said the Commerce Department set Buenos Aires as the destination.
"Commerce came up with the specifics of those meetings," Sawyer said. "It is a completely legitimate trip."
Sanford said Thursday that he will reimburse the state for the Argentina trip.
Borie said Sanford's request came several months before the June 2008 trip took place. She said Commerce Secretary Joe Taylor suggested the group travel to Cordoba, Argentina, on their own dime for a hunting trip.
"The governor said, 'While I am in the area, can you set up additional meetings?' " Borie said. "We choose Buenos Aires for those meetings."
She added, "It wasn't as though the governor came to Commerce Department and said, 'I want to go to Argentina.' What the governor said was, 'While I am in the region, let's do some additional meetings.' "
Those meetings included time with top government leaders, the mayor of Buenos Aires and business interests, Borie said. She said South Carolina has found establishing relationships with elected officials as a good gateway toward economic development.
One of the primary reasons Brazil was selected as a trade mission for South Carolina was because of its ethanol production and interest in expanding that industry in South Carolina has been growing, Borie said.
Borie said there has been no immediate tangible benefit that South Carolina has gained from the governor's time in Argentina. Establishing relationships that yield economic development takes time, she said.
The trip agenda shows a series of high level meetings that took place in Buenos Aires, Borie said.
Sawyer said the way the governor requested the meeting wasn't unusual.
"During the multiple trade missions that the governor has been on to China, Japan, Eastern Europe and Western Europe - and in this case, South America - there has always been a degree of interaction between the governor's staff and the Department of Commerce on the agenda," Sawyer told The Post and Courier. "In this case, since the governor was already going to be in Argentina for the bird hunt, Commerce was asked to add trade-related meetings in Argentina to the agenda as well."
E-mail accounts between Sanford and the woman indicate they had a sexual relationship during that trip.
The governor was caught at the Atlanta airport Wednesday by a reporter for The State newspaper and admitted to being in Argentina, not hiking along the Appalachian Trail as he had led his staff, and therefore the public, to believe. Hours later, the governor admitted to an extramarital affair with a woman from Buenos Aires.
Sanford has called a meeting of his Cabinet agencies for 12:30 this afternoon. The Post and Courier will have a reporter at the meeting.
On Thursday, Sanford told a Post and Courier reporter outside his beachfront home on Sullivan's Island that he is not focused on the question of whether he should resign.
"I'm right now focused on, I think, the important part that any family in our circumstance has to go through," he said.
Check back with postandcourier.com for more on this story as details become available.
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Comments
jammanofdi (anonymous) says...
Okay, okay - we get it; The Post and Courier wants Sanford to resign. It's only been a couple of days now and I'm already tired of this story. As bad as it sounds, the Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett stories are refreshing at least, to break the monotony of everyone calling for Sanford's head - certainly welcomed by Mark Sanford himself. Does anyone have the approximate half-life of how long this affair story will last?
June 26, 2009 at 9:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bornin43 (anonymous) says...
I am with your jammanofdi, the news reports are overkill.
June 26, 2009 at 9:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CNSYD (anonymous) says...
jammanofdi, the half life is how long it takes for the P&C to make you think they were on top of things as The State was.
June 26, 2009 at 10:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammanofdi (anonymous) says...
You're dead on with that one CNSYD - I've noticed that it takes about 1 hour for the front page of The State's website to look like The Post and Courier's...
June 26, 2009 at 10:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammanofdi (anonymous) says...
what I meant to say was - well, hopefully y'all get it: The P&C seems to be about an hour behind any news story that The State publishes...
June 26, 2009 at 10:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
carolinapanther (anonymous) says...
Sanford need to resign! I was a huge supporter of Sanford before all of this happened but I have no respect for this man at all now! Sanford needs to do the right thing and step down. He has really disappointed me.
June 26, 2009 at 10:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
follyb (anonymous) says...
IMO...he needs to continue as gov and keep his private life private!
June 26, 2009 at 10:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammanofdi (anonymous) says...
Well, considering that he has the blessing of Bauer (who is a foe of Sanford) to stay, he's willing to repay the money for the trip that we know about (granted, that it is after the fact), he has been, in my opinion, an outstanding governor up until last week, and I feel that a transition of power this late in his term would be a fault, I think that he should possibly stay - but with that agreement to stay should come some terms. #1 should be that he is, for no reason, allowed to leave the United States - especially to visit any South American country. Personally, I don't see why a governor from a US state needs to consult with Prime Ministers or Heads of State from China, Japan, Argentina or anywhere else for that matter.
June 26, 2009 at 10:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
orpheus (anonymous) says...
This is one hipocritical, lying deceitful man. Oh that's right he's a politician. Mark Sanford is not only a disgrace to himself and his state, but to this country as well. He cannot uphold the high moral standards that he thought everyone else should have. I won't even go into the misuse of South Carolina taxpayers money. After reading todays obituaries I thought the only thing missing was Mark Sanford's career. He should resign and if not he should be impeached.
June 26, 2009 at 10:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icunvme (anonymous) says...
No impeach him...Let Obama do something like this there would have been protests everywhere.
June 26, 2009 at 10:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
smp (anonymous) says...
I am not tired of the story...i would like more digging so we can get this bum out of office.
June 26, 2009 at 11:50 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Bluebird63 (anonymous) says...
One of the primary reasons Brazil was selected as a trade mission for South Carolina was because of its ethanol production and interest in expanding that industry in South Carolina has been growing, Borie said
On a side note, I just came from Idaho where there was two rather large ethanol plants started in the area I was in, and then abondanded by the government after much to do, and left the community devastated by the clean up and the cost. NO ETHANOL in S.C. thank you!!!
June 26, 2009 at 11:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Zod (anonymous) says...
This article is not overkill. It's actually the most newsworthy of all the articles. It says something about our esteemed leader. It says that while we sit with at least 12% of the working population unemployed, Mark Sanford was in the international community seeking booty.
He has been sitting on his lofty perch pointing the finger at those who would have this state accept the 720 million worth of "welfare" from the federal government. All of the while a large percentage of his people are unemployed.
He has suggested that starvation for our educational community would be better "in principle" rather than accept money that we would pay back anyway. Still not accepting the money made no business sense whatsoever. It makes even less sense today as we discover that the man who was at the front of our carriage leading the way to our supposed riches was seeking booty just as much as he was seeking jobs. I was one who supported the man because I believed that he did everything based upon principle but personal faults notwithstanding - his governance has been a failure of monumental proportion.
June 26, 2009 at 12:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
martin (anonymous) says...
Good ole fashioned junkets from the king of fiscal responsibility.
June 26, 2009 at 12:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AnDsOwHaT (anonymous) says...
His private life became public when he made it public so why should we spare him...please.
I agree I like reading and hearing about the holier than thou, honest, family man, LMAO.
however, I am confused is this the same man that spoke of wasteful state spending? but, then again getting ur freak on is not a waste...someone has to have relief!
still LMAO...Keep it coming P&C,
June 26, 2009 at 12:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AMAZING (anonymous) says...
Chester legislator calls for grand jury to probe Sanford
In a letter to Attorney General Henry McMaster, Rep. Boyd Brown cited "troubling issues" involving Sanford's use of public money and equipment, potential ethics violations and the possible involvement of state employees and Cabinet members.
"While this episode might provide comedic fodder for political pundits and late night comedians, my constituents and I, and the citizens of this state, are not laughing," Brown wrote.
http://www.heraldonline.com/120/story...
June 26, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AMAZING (anonymous) says...
Group Requests Ethics Investigation of Gov. Sanford
Washington, DC - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint against Gov. Mark Sanford with the South Carolina Attorney General and the State Ethics Commission, requesting an investigation into activities surrounding a surreptitious trip the governor made to Argentina.
http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0609...
June 26, 2009 at 12:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pavlovsdog (anonymous) says...
Interestingly enough it was Mark Sanford who was first to cry for impeachment when the Clinton/Lewinsky story broke.
Like him or not, he is a hypocrite. He's so concerned about the citizens of SC paying back this stimulus money but wasn't concerned about the same taxpayers while he was sewing his oats and engaging in extra-martial affairs on said taxpayers dollars.
June 26, 2009 at 12:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wadyaknow (anonymous) says...
Hey Ya'll! Hope the Civil Wah is a goin' well fah ya this week.
Ya'll having the time of your life bringin' up 'ol Bill Clinton. Well sorry, but that didn't work then but the pahty of family values will jest keep on a tryin' to distract from the main issuh. Yo' Guvnuh has made his career as a upright Christian fella. hee heee heeee. I can't wait until next week when another one of you Bible-totin' good-ol-boys starts a tappin' his foot in a stall. Ya'll won't have a party to go ta!!! Well - I'm off to Gettysburg. Keep electin' them hypocrites of family values for us - quite entertaining. Kiss Strom's daughter for me. Ya'll come back now ya hear!
June 26, 2009 at 12:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
drmom52 (anonymous) says...
He is a liar, an adulterer, deceitful, spending state money to have sex on father;s day and is only sad because he got caught. He has lost my respect and makes me sad for the four sons who learn by observation.
June 26, 2009 at 12:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
twa (anonymous) says...
I was a Condon supporter back during the primary, and my opinion has not changed in the least. The question I have is WHO HACKED HIS EMAIL, is that not illegal? Not excusing his serous indiscretions, but this must be addressed.
June 26, 2009 at 1:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AMAZING (anonymous) says...
Senator Jake Knotts To Call For SLED Investigation Of Governor
The agency charged with protecting S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford could end up investigating him - at least if one of the governor's longtime political rivals has his way.
S.C. Sen. Jake Knotts - who has fought against Sanford's reform agenda for the last six-and-a-half years - will ask the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to investigate the governor's actions in connection with his admitted affair with an Argentine woman, Maria Belen Chapur.
Ironically, SLED is the agency charged with providing executive protection to the governor - which means it is the agency he eluded last week when he traveled to Argentina to meet his lover.
Knotts' will reportedly ask SLED to investigate Sanford's apparent use of taxpayer resources to further the affair and the "cover-up," i.e. whether or not he asked members of his staff to lie about his whereabouts in connection with the affair. Knotts also wants to know or not Sanford violated any laws in refusing to turn power over to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer when he left the country.
http://www.fitsnews.com/2009/06/26/se...
June 26, 2009 at 1:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gamecockcougar (anonymous) says...
Breaking news....the State Dance is now the Tango!!!!
June 26, 2009 at 1:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eatmorecollards (anonymous) says...
Can we now call the Spoleto Festival Carnaval de Argentina? I'm kinda partial to Tango music and half naked women.
June 26, 2009 at 2:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammanofdi (anonymous) says...
Horizontal Tango?
June 26, 2009 at 2:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
palmettostate (anonymous) says...
Who is the mysterious "Deep Throat" in SANFORDGATE?????
June 26, 2009 at 3:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Mon_Kie (anonymous) says...
Marshall, you cheap f**king bas***d!
You need to resign RIGHT NOW!
How dare you!
June 26, 2009 at 4:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sardis12 (anonymous) says...
Every link on this website is to a Sanford story, while Iran, Farrah, and Michael Jackson have disappeared. Enough already!
June 26, 2009 at 5:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jsteph10 (anonymous) says...
In all fairness to Gov. Sanford's staff: "I'm getting some Argentinean tail" sounds a lot like "I'm getting on the Appalachian trail"
June 26, 2009 at 5:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
taylormade2 (anonymous) says...
I knew in December, 1995 when Governor Sanford (then Senator) came to the Ralph Johnson VA Medical Center to announce to the Federal Employees there that the budget for the government had not been made and therefore Governmental employees would not get paid until the budget was passed, that he was the back side of a donkey (to say it kindly). He made this announcement the week before Christmas that year, then closed his announcement by saying, "Oh. By the way. Merry Christmas."
Ever since that day, I resented Mr. Sanford. Now, all I can say is he will get what he deserves. I hope this little rendezvous he experienced ends his political career.
Oh. By the way. Happy Anniversary.
June 26, 2009 at 5:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AMAZING (anonymous) says...
..."Sanford said he spent five days "crying in Argentina" over what to do about his affair, but local sources say the governor and his lover were publicly laughing and kissing."
"Also, Sanford says his trip was a last-second "spur of the moment" decision, but it was revealed yesterday that he booked the trip right around the time that First Lady Jenny Sanford imposed what she calls a "trial separation" on their marriage."
http://www.fitsnews.com/2009/06/26/th...
June 26, 2009 at 6:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AMAZING (anonymous) says...
Jenny Sanford ...recalling how her husband repeatedly asked permission to visit his lover in the months after she discovered his affair. ..."I said absolutely not. It's one thing to forgive adultery; it's another thing to condone it," That he had dared to go to Argentina to see the other woman left her stunned.
"He was told in no uncertain terms not to see her," She said her husband told the family that he wanted some time away to work on writing a book and clear his head. The first lady said, "I had every hope he was not going to see her."
Sanford said she discovered her husband's affair early this year after coming across a copy of a letter to the mistress in one of his files in the official governor's mansion. ..."enough to figure out an affair was going on." ...The first lady said she confronted her husband immediately, and he agreed to end the affair.
Drum roll please ...d.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.... "Jenny Sanford sat in her oceanfront living room Friday, recalling how her husband repeatedly asked permission to visit his lover in the months after she discovered his affair."
Did you get that? Sanfraud "repeatedly asked permission to visit his lover in the months after she discovered his affair."
WHAT? "repeatedly asked permission" WHAT?
This guy is just not very bright.
"repeatedly asked permission" Are you kidding me?
What a freakin' doofus!
Let's hear it for: Mark "may I go to Argentina" Sanford
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/a...
June 26, 2009 at 7:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AMAZING (anonymous) says...
Senator Jake Knotts calls for Sanford investigation
RE: SLED INVESTIGATION
VIDEO:
http://videos.thestate.com/vmix_hoste...
June 26, 2009 at 7:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Mon_Kie (anonymous) says...
Sanford agreeing to repay state money spent for his trip does not make ANYTHING right about this fiasco.
Suppose you or I went to Best Buy and walked out with a new laptop and wide screen tv without paying for it.
Would it be OK if we agreed to pay for our items if we got caught taking them? H@LL NO!
June 26, 2009 at 8:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rdkint246 (anonymous) says...
Hey wadyaknow if you can only make fun of us Rebels why don't you keep your business up in yankee town and leave the affairs of the south to us REBELS. Sanford's not the only man to pull it out and he certainly won't be the last. eatmorecollards go do just that eat more maybe you'll become popeye and whip wadyaknow's you know what.If you like half-naked women shouldn't you be on another website and leave our Governor Sanford alone or do you just need something to B----h about. Get a life.
June 26, 2009 at 9:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
walleyedwoman1215 (anonymous) says...
Mark Sanford is stupid, sleazy, unhinged and undeserving of the role of public leader. RESIGN, you thieving, two-faced, sniveling, selfish bastid~!
June 26, 2009 at 9:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Lazy2009 (anonymous) says...
So did Sanford have an affair? I've heard some rumors...
June 26, 2009 at 10:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eatmorecollards (anonymous) says...
rdkint246, Have you not heard. Sanford done stepped on it. No one in their right mind would stay on a sinking ship. He has and deservingly so, made himself the blunt of jokes and ridicule. In days gone by the Rebels would have him tared, feathered and run out of town on a rail. If he has a ounce of dignity left he will resign.
What I like or dislike is no concern of yours. I'm not your governor, preacher, daddy or anyone else you have to look up to.
June 26, 2009 at 10:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jackson (anonymous) says...
come on now boys,,,, every married man in SC and most of the southern states has always had moma at home and a little missy on the side. we all ain't hunting and hiking everytime we are supposedly out with the boys... now i wont be naming names and truth be told several of you men that have been acting high and mighty in these forums have been right there doing the same thing. only problem with Mark was that he got the love bug and forgot his manners about keeping up appearances with mama and only visiting miss missy when he had a slow weekend to get away. to be sure this wasn't his first one and he for sure didn't have to go so far, and then having to explain all those passport stamps and such. why heck if he had played his cards right he could have had a lil sweet missy from right there on Sullivans.
Just one more thing that i have to now explain to my yankee and other such foriegn friends.
All ya'll know life can be slow in the south, its just fortunate we don't all get caught being slow and stuuupid....
June 26, 2009 at 10:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rdkint246 (anonymous) says...
Listen eatmorecollards this is no joke and you're wrong to think so.If you think Rebels didn't do things like this you're sooo wrong.This sort of thing has been going on since the beginning of time and will go on for a long time more.MEN-and who knows what Jenny did. Maybe there's a ghost in her closet. Every DOG has HIS or HER day. Thank GOD you're not someone I have to look up to. We could really carry on a good conversation but don't have the time or really care to. Your views mean nothing to me.The ship's still floating. Thank you jackson,you said it like no one else could. The south may be known for it's slow life style but most of us are fast to act and think later. Tired of this BULL gotta go do something more exciting.
June 27, 2009 at 12:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
whalernut (anonymous) says...
REISGN YOU CHEATING LIAR!
YOU DONT DESERVE TO SIT IN THE SEAT.
WHAT ARE WE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN? RESIGN! LIAR! CHEATER!
WHAT A LET DOWN! RESIGN! LIAR! CHEATER!
June 27, 2009 at 7:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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