Transparency Groups Slam Speaker Bobby Harrell

Two things are certain after Tuesday’s State House press conference by groups advocating for greater government transparency. First, outrage makes strange bedfellows. Second, dashed were any hopes by House Speaker Bobby Harrell that the questions surrounding the more than $300,000 he received in reimbursements will die down any time soon.

More than a dozen media outlets were on hand for over 30 minutes of withering criticism directed at the Charleston Republican who has represented House District 114 since 1993. Groups as diverse as the South Carolina Policy Council,  Common Cause, RINO Hunt, the South Carolina Progressive Network, Palmetto Liberty and the South Carolina New Democrats represent a range of colors in the political spectrum, with little overlap. But, they found common ground in their critique of Harrell, who has been under fire since September, when the Charleston Post and Courier reported that he had been reimbursed hundreds of thousands of dollars for costs associated with using his private plan for travel.

Ethics reform was already a popular topic, but the revelations about Harrell have only fanned the flames. More than one longtime observer of South Carolina politics has told Patch that the recent spate of ethics-related issues and public officials is similar to the Operation Lost Trust era in 1990, when several Palmetto State politicians went to jail on corruption charges.

During today’s press conference, Ashley Landess of the South Carolina Policy Council said Harrell has acquired an inordinate amount of power and an outsized amount of control on what happens in the state, without the demands of accountability. “He is out of the reach of the public,” Landess said.

John Crangle of Common Cause admonished Harrell and called on him to “be a man” and face the media’s questions about the specifics about his reimbursements, an allusion to Harrell’s statement from last week that the controversy about his reimbursements was a result of liberal media bias.

While the groups mostly agreed in their criticism of Harrell, there was less unanimity in how the growing controversy should be handled. Most agreed that neither the House nor the Senate ethics committees would take up the matter due to political considerations. The Palmetto Leadership Council, a pro-business fundraising group Harrell supports, donated money to five of the six members of the House Ethics Committee.*

If the ethics committees passed on acting, the question then is whether Attorney General Alan Wilson would get involved. Wilson addressed the issue on his website today with the following statement, which left little doubt his office would step in if the ethics committees deferred action. Wison’s statement said in part:

 “South Carolina statute 8-13-540(3) authorizes the House Ethics committee to investigate this type of allegation concerning House members. That law says ‘[a]fter the hearing, the ethics committee shall determine its findings of fact… (d) in the case of an alleged criminal violation, [it shall] refer the matter to the Attorney General for investigation.’

“For that reason it is premature for this Office to ask SLED to investigate this matter at this time. The process must proceed as prescribed by state law. Should the House Ethics Committee not act, this Office is then prepared to do what is in the public’s best interest.” 

After the press conference, Crangle was asked if the speakership as an office had acquired too much authority. He said that Harrell’s predecessors as speaker, David Wilkins and Robert Sheheen, had no such issues with respect to their ethics. “I didn’t always agree with (Wilkins and Sheheen), but at least they were about helping the state. The only thing this speaker is about is using his influence to collect and spend money.”

In response to the press conference, Harrell’s Deputy Chief of Staff Greg Foster released the following statement:

“It has been thoroughly demonstrated, and reported by media outlets statewide, that Speaker Harrell is in full compliance with all aspects of the Ethics Act. These political groups are attacking the Speaker for using privately raised campaign funds to pay for many expenses that could have been charged to taxpayers. In fact, the original newspaper to report on this issue has since printed several corrections to their original article admitting that they made false accusations. It’s also important to note that the portions of this newspaper’s report that were read at the press conference came from the corrected version of the article, not the original factually incorrect version. 

“It is clear that these political attacks are not about ethics laws, truth or facts. These attacks are serious—and seriously misleading. In August, a Charleston press conference held by many of these same groups made other unfounded political attacks on Speaker Harrell because of his support of I-526. Two years ago, these same groups held a State House press conference attacking the Speaker for not supporting a number of conservative bills, not only had all those bills successfully passed the House, most were sponsored by Harrell himself. Different day, similar political attacks, still no factual basis.”

Harrell was sharply critical of Gov. Haley’s handling of ethics questions in the spring. Haley’s spokesman, Rob Godfrey issued this statement following the press conference:

"The governor is focused on working to pass a strong and comprehensive ethics reform bill in the next legislative session - she is not focused on feeding a media frenzy about Speaker Harrell. We're confident the attorney general will act appropriately."

CORRECTION: This article originally stated that Harrell gave money to five members of the ethics committee. That is not the case. That money was donated by the Palmetto Leadership Council, a political action committee affiliated with Harrell.