Haley denies extramarital affair

COLUMBIA — Somebody's lying.

Will Folks, political blogger and former spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford, said today that he had "inappropriate physical contact" with Rep. Nikki Haley, a married mother of two who is running for governor.

Haley says it's not true.

"I have been 100 percent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage," Haley said in a statement sent via her campaign this morning. "This claim against me is categorically and totally false.

It is sad, but not surprising, that this disgraceful smear has taken form less than a week removed from the release of a poll showing our campaign with a significant lead. It is quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst."

Haley called in to Keven Cohen's show, The Afternoon Drive, on 560 A.M. WVOC, to talk about the accusations. She said that the attacks on her marriage were dirty political tricks that she expected. "They unleashed a tiger," she said.

Haley said she received calls both from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former first lady Jenny Sanford today to express their support.

Haley said Palin had advised her to expect an unfriendly press and below-the-belt political tactics.

Today, Haley said Palin told her that she has faith in the people of SC to see beyond the gamesmanship. Palin also posted a lengthy note on her Facebook page supporting Haley.

Neither Haley nor Cohen would give Folks' name or name his blog. Haley described him as a political consultant and said this is the type of behavior she would expect from a someone in that role.

Haley is a Lexington County Republican who had been considered a second-tier candidate until recently. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed Haley above GOP candidates Attorney General Henry McMaster, U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.

Following the endorsement, the campaign announced that the independent public polling firm Rasmussen Reports put Haley in the lead. The survey was taken on May 17 of likely Republican primary voters. Haley took 30 percent, to McMaster's 19 and Barrett's 17. Bauer came in last with 12 percent.

Folks wrote about the affair on his blog, FitsNews.com, one of the state's most popular political blogs. It is controversial and it has not always reported accurate information.

The Post and Courier asked Folks to provide evidence of the affair and Nancy Mace, co-owner and president of FitsNews.com, said in an e-mail that Folks will not discuss the matter further.

Folks has often written admiringly of Haley over the years. In a 2008 blog, he wrote that Haley was "hot as hell" and "if showering her with our unceasing affection is wrong, we don't wanna be right."

This came early in an entry that began: "We're frequently accused of showing a little too much love to S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley, to which we can only say "we wish" (ba doom ching)."

Longtime South Carolina political analyst Neal Thigpen, a retired Francis Marion University professor, said the state has a long history of dirty politics.

"I would not say it's par for the course," Thigpen. "We've had a lot of bare knuckles stuff here over the years, but this comes particularly as Representative Haley is a roll. Why at this moment? It's obviously structured to try and stop her momentum.

This is an 11th-hour hit. I think wherever it came from is designed to try and stop her momentum. This is the time and the hour, particularly in primaries. In primaries, you can move votes. It's harder to do in general elections."

Thigpen said Folks' claims are suspect.

"Folks doesn't enjoy the best reputation in terms of that blog," Thigpen said. "Most times there isn't a whole lot of truth to what he puts out there. I don't know why he would . . . try to damage this woman."

Folks said that he had the affair with Haley several years ago and prior to his own marriage.

"That's it. I will not be discussing the details of that relationship, nor will I be granting any additional interviews about it to members of the media beyond what I have already been compelled to confirm," Folks wrote.

Folks himself is a controversial figure (his blog declares the words: "Unfair. Imbalanced.") He pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge in 2005, in the days after he had given the governor's office his resignation to launch his own business, Viewpolitik LLC. Folks pleaded guilty in a Columbia municipal court to criminal domestic violence.

In September 2006, the Associated Press reported that Folks was hired by political consultant Rod Shealy, a longtime adviser to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer to help Republicans in their races for lieutenant governor, comptroller general and state treasurer.

Shealy, a "long time friend and unofficial adviser," told The Post and Courier today that he, nor Bauer nor anyone attached to Bauer's campaign were connected to Folks' claims.

Shealy said it is true that he hired Folks for a short time in 2006, but Shealy said he hasn't spoken to Folks more than three times in the last three years.

"We did not spend any money for opposition research," Shealy said. He said that sets Bauer's campaign apart of the other gubernatorial campaigns. "We don't have a book on all three of the opponents in terms of the misdeeds they may have done because we didn't spend money on it. (Bauer's) stayed positive. He's focused on him - his mission and his ideas."

Asked if they had heard the rumors prior to Folks' report today, McMaster communications director Rob Godfrey said the campaign had no comment.

Luke Byars, Campaign Manager for Barrett for Governor, said Barrett's camp played no role in Folks' claims.

"From dishonest third party attack ads to push polls from other campaigns, no campaign has been on the receiving end of more negative attacks than Gresham Barrett," Byars said. "And no campaign has been more vocal about how these attacks should have no place in this race. To quote Gresham Barrett from Saturday's debate, 'enough is enough... The attacks need to stop.' "

Haley's 2008 re-election campaign hired Folks' company, Viewpolitik, early in the campaign.

Her campaign spent $1,310 with Viewpolitik in three separate transactions in February 2008, according to her campaign disclosure report on file with the S.C. Ethics Commission.

State ethics records also show that Haley paid Folks $3,530 in 2007 for consulting and web consulting on her House campaign.

Haley said in her statement today Folks' claim is an effort to distract voters.

"These attacks — and those sure to follow — are an effort at distraction, but I will keep my focus on what matters, and that is delivering South Carolina's government back to our people," Haley said. "That's a fight I have fought for the last five years. That's why I entered this race for governor. And that's what I will continue to do, despite any outrageous and false claims that are thrown at me."

Folks' confession comes 15 days before the June 8 primary.

Running for the Democratic nomination are Charleston Sen. Robert Ford, state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex and Camden Sen. Vincent Sheheen.

The news rocks an already shamed South Carolina, almost a year after Sanford admitted that he was unfaithful to his wife, Jenny.

The Sanfords divorced in March.

SC GOP Chairman Karen Floyd said in a press release Monday that although she has been and remains neutral in the Republican gubernatorial primary, she believes the primary should be decided on "issues and ideas, and not on unsubstantiated personal attacks."

Floyd said: "South Carolinians deserve a higher level of political discourse than this, and they frankly deserve a press corps that focuses on real, substantive issues rather than on Internet rumor mongering. No candidate deserves to have to defend themselves from these kinds of attacks, and South Carolinians are frankly tired of being fed unfounded gossip. I repudiate this attack, and I will defend the integrity of any of our gubernatorial candidates in the face of personal attacks of this nature."

Covering the politics of the Lowcountry, South Carolina and the nation.

Jenny Sanford has endorsed Haley for governor. Haley had been the governor's hand-picked successor, but Gov. Sanford backed off after his political career plummeted after his June confession that he had left the state to be with his Argentine lover in her country while misleading his staff to believe that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Check back for updates as they become available. Read more in Tuesday's editions of The Post and Courier.