Court won't block probe's release

COLUMBIA -- Gov. Mark Sanford did not make any part of his ethics investigation off limits when he waived confidentiality, so the S.C. Supreme Court won't block the findings from reaching the hands of state legislators, according to an opinion issued Thursday.

But, for practical purposes, the justices left the matter alone, so the parties are where they were before seeking the court's intervention.

The justices decided not to get involved by denying a request from Sanford's attorneys to withhold the report from the Legislature. At the same time, the court decided to reject House Speaker Bobby Harrell's request to make the State Ethics Commission's report available when it's complete.

The investigation is expected to be complete any day. Its release now depends on a ruling by state ethics commissioners. Sanford has asked the commissioners to rethink their decision to release the report until after they hear his argument against it.

The commission is investigating Sanford's travel records and campaign reimbursements.

The probe began after questions were raised about Sanford's use of state and commercial planes, stemming from the governor's week-long disappearance in June to visit his mistress in Argentina.

Amid calls for Sanford to be thrown out of office, Harrell, a Charleston

Republican, said he would wait to see the results of the ethics investigation before moving forward with impeachment proceedings. An impeachment must begin in the House. The Senate would serve as the jury if House members voted to impeach the governor.

See our special section on Governor Mark Sanford

Herb Hayden, director of the Ethics Commission, said the nine commissioners are scheduled to meet Nov. 18, and will likely then hear Sanford's argument against the release of the report. Hayden said that meeting, which is not open to the public, is akin to a grand jury hearing.

If the commissioners side with Sanford, the report will not be released, Hayden said. If they do not agree with the governor, Sanford could take the case to the Court of Appeals.

If the commissioners determine after they are presented with the information at the Nov. 18 meeting that there is probable cause to prosecute Sanford, Hayden said three simultaneous entities will act: the commission will schedule an administrative hearing, the attorney general's office will look for criminal wrongdoing and the House will consider impeachment.

If the commissioners decide that probable cause does not exist, the matter is closed, although the House could still proceed with impeachment.

In their dual-opinion, the justices also denied Harrell's request, made on behalf of the House, to direct the commission to release the investigation to lawmakers. The opinion noted that the House could be pursuing its own investigation rather than rely on the court to make the ethics probe public.

Harrell's communications director, Greg Foster, said the speaker was disappointed that Sanford tried to keep the results of the investigation secret but that Harrell is pleased with Thursday's court ruling.

Harrell said in a statement: "Any official action of the House needs to be based on impartial facts, free from political motivations. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled on this issue, we will give full consideration to the facts presented in the Ethics Commission's report and use that as a basis for any further official action."

Sanford's attorney Butch Bowers of Columbia said the governor is pleased that the court denied Harrell's request. The crux of Sanford's argument to the Supreme Court is that if the investigation report is released before the entire process is complete, and Sanford does not have a chance to respond to all charges against him, that the process will be tainted.

"We've fully cooperated with the commission thus far, and we will continue to do so throughout this process," Bowers said in a statement. "To be clear, Governor Sanford supports the public release of the full and complete ethics report, and we believe that once all of the facts and the complete story are on the table, people will see that this administration has consistently been a good steward for the taxpayer."