The South Carolina lawmaker facing federal charges in a stem cell harvesting scam isn’t resigning – nor does he expect to be removed from office.
Rep. Stephen Goldfinch (RINO-SC) – whose involvement in the scam was first exposed by FITS – announced just before the Thanksgiving break (in diabolically manipulative fashion) that he was pleading guilty to federal charges of “mislabeling” stem cells.
If charged with a crime of “moral turpitude,” Goldfinch would be suspended from office.
“It is ultimately up to the speaker, but after talking to them, it doesn’t look like it falls into any of those categories,” Goldfinch told The Nerve, a Columbia, S.C. website.
Goldfinch is blaming his involvement in the scam on former Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) employee Dr. Vincent Dammai.
“I trusted him,” Goldfinch told The Nerve. “The guy went to church with us, and he hoodwinked me.”
Dammai is having none of it. In an email to FITS, he blasted Goldfinch – calling him a liar.
“Right now he is on a media tour to discredit and defame me knowing that I am depleted of my resources to fight back,” Dammai said. “Everything he is saying are lies and I have emails and documents to prove it.”
Dammai added that Goldfinch was the one who “marketed, sold and shipped (stem) cells” to Francisco Morales of Brownsville, Texas – the guy who was exposed in a recent 60 Minutes feature for his stem cell quackery. According to Dammai, he didn’t have “any idea who Morales was.”
In other words this case is going to get very interesting …
Other unanswered questions? The role MUSC played in the scam – as well as a pair of birthing centers in Conway, S.C. (which allegedly harvested the stem cells).
Goldfinch is an anti-free market “Republican,” as evidenced by his efforts to expand South Carolina’s already bloated, duplicative and inefficient system of higher education.
But even if he were a hard core friend of free markets (and friend of individual liberty), this episode would have still raised some serious red flags regarding his character (or lack thereof).
25 comments
Yea, experience selling body parts comes in handy in this state.
“…if he only had a brain…”
Goldfinch will not resign
Goldfinch will not be removed from office
Goldfinch will go to Orgies on Saturday night
Goldfinch will go to Church on Sunday morning
Goldfinch will continue to sodomize taxpayers up to the day God turns his fucking cockroach lying son of bitch ass into a pillar of salt
Got that right! So much precedent for staying put… especially in SC.
Goldfinch WILL go to prison. Just watch. Would not be surprised if he tried to leave the country.
Yea, ok….wish I had a nickel every time someone posted in the comment section that some pol was going to end up in jail.
sure, starting the day when pigs fly
Don’t hold back OWB
Glenn McConnell — who edited a large commentary in yesterday’s Post and Courier, “McConnell Should Lead CofC” by Ernie Passailaigue and Jimmy Bailey — is probably covering Goldfinch.
Goldfinch’s wife Renee is on the College of Charleston’s board president search committee.
Passailaigue was forced to resign from the Arkansas lottery in April 2012 after he was caught looting it.
Sort of like McConnell has been looting our state treasury to pay for his Hunley obsession.
Lord protect us from Goldfinch, McConnell, Passailaigue and other political crooks.
http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/the-ghost-of-ernie-passailaigue/Content?oid=2177443
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIw6r35DyqU
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/04/10/lottery-director-if-this-gets-out-were-all-going-to-lose-our-jobs
Growing a beard doesn’t make one appear to have a chin.
I’d love to hump his wife.
HAHAHAHAHA me too
Is this any kinship to the family who owns mortuaries in the Conway area?
You got that right doc. Family owns funeral homes in the Conway area. Turning out to be quite a Conway Conman, shall we say. When someone brings Church and religion into the conversation, you know he is lying and is trying to appeal to the average SC churchgoer. That is real gutter talk and lowly of him.
Have you talked to Rep. Goldfinch to get his side of the story?
Really, dude? Really?
“He hoodwinked me.”
Innocent victim, just a wayward contractor that jammed me up, I knew nothing, blah, blah, blah. We’ll have to wait and see if Dammai’s emails shed any light on Goldfinch’s real level of involvement, but I am guessing that they will.
I’m sure he will “stay put,” at least until his election cycle rolls around here shortly. The dirty little club he’s in up in Cola usually looks after their own, but once in a great while (and only in a GREAT while) those pesky voters show up and fire a loser on their own. Even Andre Bauer finally got run off, which was a minor miracle.
Mr. “Probation and a misdemeanor don’t mean a lot politically” may be genuinely surprised at the backlash already spooling up in G’Town County about his pansy ass even now BEFORE Dammai spills the “emails and documents to prove it.” This stuff should time perfectly for the election, and will be high entertainment indeed.
Wow! The visceral, thoughtless, and obscene comments made toward Stephen Golfinch and his wife in this post are absolutely unbelievable, shameful words.
Nice goatee douchebag.
Wow dude, you must not read much political commentary. I just scanned back through this thread and it’s one of the tamer discussions out there, which is especially unusual since this has all of the makings of a pretty decent political scandal: the starring pol is a vacuous daddy’s boy, the wife is involved politically as well (once he finally got her a seat on something), the co-conspirator is yelling that he has the goods on Goldfinch, and the core of the scandal involves the improper sale of harvested stem cells! That’s just good shit, I don’t care who you are. Welcome to the conversation, though.
Looks like jimLewisOWB hurt somebodies feelings again.
Tim, what is more shameful… these words /-about wife mostly expressed as a joke, I believe/ or the fact that a member of your congregation made possibly millions of $$$ while doing something so incredibly immoral even for a presbyterian I assume. Also, what the heck happened to his McClelanvile marsh front $1mil+ dollar home? Did he defraud a bank or what?
He should have just said “it was a failure of intelligence” – worked for Georgie Boy.
I have a very normal question….probably every citizen also might be wondering the same thing. How does Goldfinch fellow get to continue in office, run for re-election, retain his license, get to keep his dishonest proceeds, have no political or social consequences and get away with bearing false witness on Dammai? Dammai lost his job at MUSC for the exact same misdemeanor charge. MUSC folks need to ask questions from their leadership, if they are interested in fairness and setting a equitable precedent. Have we as a society fallen so low as to tolerate this blatant discrimination.
Yep, This is how the stone rolls in South Carolina
I am beginning to read about this very interesting case and either I am dumb or there is a coverup going on to protect people. As I see it, Fredda Branyon shipped stem cells to Francisco Morales and was charged with mail fraud, bank fraud and ultimately plead guilty to one felony count in exchange for snitching. This Goldfinch clown, did exactly the same things that Branyon did but is NOT charged with felony, mail fraud and bank fraud, but is allowed to plead to a misdemeanor for snitching? I wonder how much Goldfinch made in total.