SC

Judge: Harrell-Wilson Hearing Must Be Public

OPEN GOVERNMENT GETS A RARE VICTORY IN THE PALMETTO STATE S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson scored a big victory this week … and so did South Carolinians who believe deliberations about the integrity of their public officials should be, well, public. S.C. Circuit Court Judge Casey Manning ruled Friday that…

OPEN GOVERNMENT GETS A RARE VICTORY IN THE PALMETTO STATE

S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson scored a big victory this week … and so did South Carolinians who believe deliberations about the integrity of their public officials should be, well, public.

S.C. Circuit Court Judge Casey Manning ruled Friday that the public will be allowed to attend a hearing into whether Wilson should be removed as the lead prosecutor in the grand jury investigation of S.C. Speaker Bobby Harrell.

Harrell’s attorneys had hoped to keep the hearing secret … 

Good for Manning … and good for Wilson and S.C. Press Association attorney Jay Bender, who fought Harrell lawyers Bart Daniel and Gedney Howe on this issue (and won).

If Harrell’s attorneys have a compelling reason to remove Wilson as prosecutor, then they should make their case in open court. Keeping such deliberations behind closed doors would have only further enhanced our state’s reputation for corruption and opaqueness.

Speaking of … whether this hearing is open or closed, and whether Wilson is on or off the case … Harrell is guilty as sin and should have resigned a long time ago.

In fact we called on Harrell to step down over a year ago.

 

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57 comments

shifty henry March 21, 2014 at 11:26 am

“Casey at the bat” — hope this one is a hit out of the park. I’m feeling better now.

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Harrell's a fag March 21, 2014 at 11:40 am

“Public servants” should never be entitled to secret and/or private hearings. PERIOD. If they don’t like it, then they can try to be productive citizens in the private sector.

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Johnny March 22, 2014 at 8:45 am

Wilson tells the Speaker’s lawyer that if he does not support him “his friends with deep pockets” would make an issue of it.

Well, Wilson’s confidant Ashely Landiss gets a large grant from out of state people friendly with AG WIlson and Congressman Wilson and they wage jihad, along with their paid affiliates such as Talbert Black, against the speaker.

I am no fan of the speaker, but if you ask me, the AG is the problem here. A pay for play AG is as bad as it gets.

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Elliott March 22, 2014 at 8:58 am

The public integrity bill is worthless fluff designed to build AG Wilson’s credentials. Like Haley, their lists of cheesy “achievements” allows them to raise out of state money and gain influence in groups like the national media, rightwing think tanks, the Governors Asso and the Attorney General Asso.

Wilson NEEDS that fluff to build a national base, something he will need for his run for Governor in 2018. Harrell was in the way until Landis got her money, now Harrell is a rung in the ladder to the Gov’s Mansion.

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Shadows March 23, 2014 at 11:52 pm

Harrells chief of staff is lying. You want to see the dirt on the little twit?

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DG March 24, 2014 at 10:10 am

I believe Brad Wright perjured himself.

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Smirks March 21, 2014 at 12:05 pm

Hurray, a small ray of sunlight finally sneaks its way into something!

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euwe max March 21, 2014 at 1:37 pm

The buggerer becomes the buggered.

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*********** March 21, 2014 at 4:47 pm

Harrells lawyers (Howe and Daniels) wanting to try to keep things secret, it speaks volumes and projects a vibrant picture that his lawyers are crooks and will likely lie and engaged within criminal conduct. They keep this kind of crap up, they will not be practicing law much longer. One way or another, Harrell is going to prison. If his cronies want to join him, then so be it.

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anonymous March 21, 2014 at 10:27 pm

I don’t think so scooter.

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CNSY March 22, 2014 at 1:09 am

Shityard Gravy

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RHood2 March 21, 2014 at 5:51 pm

How much you want to bet they decide to pull the request, so their reasons are never divulged?
Would be a pyhrric victory. Hope I am wrong.

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Judith March 21, 2014 at 6:57 pm

I see Toal switched out judges. Hood had something else to do. Hmmmm.

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Dan on Divine March 21, 2014 at 8:46 pm

Word on Divine Street is that Toal may have used Harrell for what he was worth to her – buying a few more votes in the House – and she’s done with him. She is so sorry, Bobby, but she just call tell judges how to rule?????? You were used, Bobby.

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anonymous March 26, 2014 at 12:01 pm

W will get an Asst. AG to prosecute. W won’t appear; H and W are buds and that should be obvious by now.

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Bible Thumper March 21, 2014 at 8:34 pm

This could open a big can of worms. Seven post here and 33 post on a relatively insignificant cash flow problem caused by the winter storm. I guess everybody at fits just loves Haley.

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Theodore G. Bilbo March 22, 2014 at 10:17 am

Hell that Aint nothing.Haley, Harrell?Nothing like the NAACP to get all these Republicans and Non Republican Republicans here going.

There are 38 damn comments about the NAACP,which most here label an insignificant,useless, and ineffective organization,raising Hell about the canning of some unknown Superintendent of Education in tiny Colleton County(it is indeed touching that all the “conservatives” here are so concerned about the schools down there).

Governor screwing up the state?House Speaker in legal do do?None of that holds a match to a good ol racial story.

Fits gets it!In SC Race is still issue número uno!

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Bible Thumper March 22, 2014 at 10:27 am

37 comments on racial comments of NY congressman Rangel. Almost beats MOX and Speaker stories combined.

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euwe max March 23, 2014 at 6:50 pm

How about that Paris Hilton, eh?

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Bible Thumper March 23, 2014 at 7:12 pm

If she decides to have a baby with a black lesbian drugy, we might be able to revive this thread.

euwe max March 23, 2014 at 9:35 pm

been there, done that.

In Camera March 22, 2014 at 1:06 am

Judges hear some motions, discuss formal legal problems like jury instructions, or conduct hearings on sensitive matters such as adoptions “in chambers.” Be prepared and on further look out for continued shenanigans (some even illegal) by Harrell’s lawyers, Gedjeck and Fart. A criminal (like Harrell) will resort to almost anything to avoid going to prison.

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anonymous March 22, 2014 at 3:37 am

It’s all just a cover-up for Wilson’s own campaign finance abuse and ethics violations. It’s going to be interesting to see if Wilson will be able to successfully cover everything up. I suspect as long as he is going after Harrell, Wilson will be exposed for all of his ethics violations, including what now appears to be bribery. Wilson’s “Olive Branch” comment to Harrell’s Chief of Staff is going to bite Wilson in the rear end. Bribery? Isn’t that a criminal offense?

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Fed up March 22, 2014 at 8:27 pm

Amen. All Wilson does is raise money. He ought to go to work sometime. He might like it.

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Eyes 4 Lies March 22, 2014 at 2:08 am

South Carolina: The South Carolina General Assembly elected Robert Eldon Hood to the 5th Judicial Circuit, Seat 3 on February 1, 2012.[1] The 5th Circuit contains Kershaw and Richland counties. The South Carolina General Assembly elected Judge Casey Manning …. Bobby Harrells corrupt cronies elect SC judges …. Serious conflict of interest in this case against felon Bobby Harrell …. Too much behind the scenes chatter and attempts to pull strings, to trade favors, in attempts to save Bobby Harrell from going to prison. Even Gedney Howe is attempting questionable practices, contacting people wanting to trade favors and thinking of having others by proxy to do the dirty work with the grand jury? Pay offs? Favor trading? Remembers, many can fall with Harrell and end up in criminal court facing felonies. They will stop at nothing to escape detection and punishment. Even Harrells representatives will lie for Boob Boy.

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anonymous March 22, 2014 at 3:15 am

Harrell’s chief of staff (Brad Wright) testified that, at Alan Wilson’s request, he had a private meeting in which prosecutor Wilson tried to intimidate and threaten the speaker’s office into supporting a bill to create a multi-agency, public integrity unit to investigate ethics charges.
“He (Alan Wilson) told me that he had friends with deep pockets, and they could make this an issue if he asked them to,” Brad Wright testified, saying Wilson stood up and pounded on his desk during the meeting. “That scared me. … I thought that was a threat.”
Alan Wilson mentioned SLED’s ongoing inquiry, Wright said, saying the prosecutor Wilson referenced the proposal that Harrell come out in favor of the public integrity bill as an “olive branch.”

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Thomas March 22, 2014 at 10:39 am

Judge Hood is no where to be seen. Judge Manning is hearing the complaint?

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anonymous March 22, 2014 at 3:08 am

SC Attorney General Alan Wilson NO BOY SCOUT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s chief prosecutor Alan Wilson used a state police investigation into an ethics complaint against House Speaker Bobby Harrell to try to intimidate the powerful Charleston Republican into supporting legislation that would create a public integrity unit, an employee of the speaker Harrell testified Friday.

Harrell’s chief of staff (Brad Wright) testified that, at Alan Wilson’s request, he had a private meeting in which prosecutor Wilson tried to intimidate and threaten the speaker’s office into supporting a bill to create a multi-agency, public integrity unit to investigate ethics charges.
“He (Alan Wilson) told me that he had friends with deep pockets, and they could make this an issue if he asked them to,” Brad Wright testified, saying Wilson stood up and pounded on his desk during the meeting. “That scared me. … I thought that was a threat.”

Wright said he went back and told Harrell about the meeting.

“He said, ‘Brad it’s going to be OK. You just got threatened,'” Wright said. “And then he corrected himself and said, ‘Well, I just got threatened, but it’s going to be OK.”

Alan Wilson mentioned SLED’s ongoing inquiry, Wright said, saying the prosecutor Wilson referenced the proposal that Harrell come out in favor of the public integrity bill as an “olive branch.”

Alan Wilson, meanwhile, said he typically speaks with lawmakers about pending legislation and only met with Brad Wright, (Harrell’s Chief of Staff) not his boss, to avoid any appearance of impropriety, given the fact that SLED was investigating Harrell.

The testimony came during a hearing connected to the State Grand Jury’s consideration of ethics allegations against Harrell. Harrell’s attorneys are seeking to have Attorney General Alan Wilson removed from the case, citing what they characterize as inappropriate and threatening behavior by Alan Wilson in a conversation with Harrell’s Chief of Staff (Brad Wright) over the pending bill.

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Bible Thumper March 22, 2014 at 8:59 am

Wilson is accused of wrong doing during a private meeting. Big deal. Haley was accused of things by Will at a private meeting and she shot right to the top. Maybe he had 2 hr. conversations at 2:00 am. That will destroy him.

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Thomas March 22, 2014 at 10:41 am

SCAG Wilson has friends with deep pockets? What does this mean?

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anonymous March 22, 2014 at 11:48 am

First of all it’s a threat Second, it’s extortion. And, third it’s bribery. I suspect that the deep pockets are the BIG LAW FIRM friends that benefited from Wilson’s campaign and Wilson’s power and influence BTW, pounding on Harrell’s Chief of Staff’s desk is very threatening to say the least, much less very unbecoming of an Attorney General, wouldn’t you say?

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Crocodile Tears March 22, 2014 at 7:04 pm

It’s two corrupt a-holes trying to shit on each other. Hopefully they are both successful.

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Anonymous March 22, 2014 at 2:03 pm

Remember, good folks, there is evidence that Jean Toal’s secret Office of Disciplinary Counsel has an investigation on-going against Alan Wilson about this mess. There are no rules with Toal’s prosecutorial/discipline system. It’s all at her discretion and in total secrecy. Toal could come out with a something as little as a public reprimand at any time against Wilson and Harrell would hop-scotch right out of his troubles.

There was a time when all attorneys in trouble had to do was pay Jahue Moore a fat fee, he and Jake Knotts would give Toal a call and it all went away. Jake Knotts is a has-been and cannot help Toal anymore. So Wilson’s credit card may be maxed out there. Due to Joe Wilson’s connections with Jahue Moore and Jake Knotts, this is the logical choice for Alan Wilson to seek Jahue Moore’s help with the ODC.

Harrell may still be able to help Toal somehow if he can shake these nagging little charges. Gedney Howe is owned by Jean Toal over the Charleston sex-abuse cases a few years ago.(Not Gedney’s, but his clients.) That was when Cam Lewis was the man to pay to get to Toal. (Now, it’s Betsy Gray or Michael Virzi – his sister is Deputy ODC),

We may not have even reached mid-season of this one SC reality show that is worse than Southern Charm.

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Anonymous, also March 22, 2014 at 3:45 pm

Ah, thanks. Now I see why Toal is so important in this mess. I thought she was only important because she could pick the circuit court judges to hear the issues. It’s coming to me now.

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Ciao, Bobby March 22, 2014 at 2:47 pm

“I think I have to stay in the fight because what’s happened to me and my family is not right,” he said in a one-on-one interview with The Post and Courier.
“It is incredibly important to me to make sure everybody knows that my family’s reputation that has been earned over generations should be as good as it’s always been.”
Look here, you crooked Harrell, you’re the one who dragged your family into your ethical mess.
If it hurts them, you’ve got nobody to blame but yourself.
And methinks you protest too much.

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Native Ink March 22, 2014 at 3:42 pm

So when Harrell and Grooms call up the D.O.T. board and tell them they can’t vote to kill funding for the I-526 extension, that isn’t intimidation? What Wilson did sounds mild compared to the arm-twisting Harrell and his cronies have bragged about publicly.

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anonymous March 24, 2014 at 6:20 am

Scooter ….. I say Scooter …listen to me Scooter … Wilson threatened and bribed a public official (Harrell) while, he himself was prosecuting and has under investigation. If he is capable of threats, bribery, and extortion, not to mention campaign finance abuse, what else is he capable of? Wilson should be listed as one of South Carolina’s most dangerous men. How many other private meetings has Wilson had with other people where he has pounded their desks and threatened them? How many other people has Wilson told that he has “deep pocket” friends that will take them down? His actions are starting to sound like the Mafia whereby if you don’t do what I say, then I’m calling Guido to break your arm or cut off your finger or ruin your career. Wilson, quite frankly, is out of control.

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Wishing you the worst, crook March 22, 2014 at 5:22 pm

Burn, Bobby, burn.

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anonymous March 22, 2014 at 9:15 pm

Harrell has the upper-hand, I wouldn’t hold your breath

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Scrappy March 23, 2014 at 1:17 am

Harrell is done! Live by the sword, you die by the sword! He will be making deals and hoping for a short prison stay like T Rav got. It’s way past time for a new speaker anyway. Harrell has helped lead this state to the dysfunctional, cash eating machine it is today. If Wilson can bring down Leatherman next he’s got my vote for Governor!

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anonymous March 23, 2014 at 4:27 am

T-Rav was trafficking cocaine. No wait! he was just sharing. BTW, it’s NOT the Attorney General’s job to bring down other people, however, that’s what his “deep pocket” friends want. Wilson has turned out to be a political bully and hatchet man with no ethics. He has squandered the AG position. He’s freakin’ pathetic.

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Kick Harrell In His Nuts March 23, 2014 at 2:56 pm

You are fucked up in the head and so is Harrell. Everybody knows that.

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Well now March 23, 2014 at 11:57 am

The real question is whether this determination is considered immediately appealble or not. This is going to be tied up in court for moths – years?

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anonymous March 24, 2014 at 5:59 am

Wilson caused that problem. If Wilson is dumb enough to get himself into it, then he probably not smart enough to get himself out of it.

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Harrell Will Be Destroyed March 23, 2014 at 2:59 pm

Major campaign in progress to insure that every single voter in South Carolina knows that Harrell is a thief, liar, crook, corrupt, and must be sent to prison. He is a very sick and twisted power freak. His days are numbered. His wife should divorce him.

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anonymous March 23, 2014 at 5:12 pm

There is no evidence that shows what you are saying. You are one frustrated little puppy.

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Eyes For Lies March 23, 2014 at 11:38 pm

Rumors flying around Charleston that Howe and Daniels are coaching Harrell on what to say on the witness stand.

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anonymous March 24, 2014 at 5:53 am

Whoopee!

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Eyes For Lies March 23, 2014 at 11:49 pm

Judicial Canon Violations — no SC State Judge who is elected by the General Assembly can preside over any hearings or proceedings regarding this low life lying swollen head power freak. It is ILLEGAL.

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anonymous March 24, 2014 at 5:49 am

If Wilson is as smart as you think he is, then he would figure that out. Thus far, the best Wilson can do is exit out the back door, he is a freakin’ coward, he’s not man enough to stand up to the scrutiny of the media., that’s what bullies do, they can dish it out, but they can’t take it. Wilson’s way of dealing with this is running and hiding and crawling in a hole. If Wilson had any integrity he would come clean on his own misdeeds, instead, he is prosecuting other people for lesser campaign finance violations than he, himself has admitted to doing. As long as Wilson is going after Harrell for campaign finance violations, Wilson will be exposed for his own campaign violations. Pass the popcorn, this is going to get interesting.

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Eyes For Lies March 23, 2014 at 11:54 pm

What Happens When Harrell Lies Under Oath?

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anonymous March 24, 2014 at 5:35 am

What happens when he doesn’t?

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Eyes For Lies March 23, 2014 at 11:55 pm

Grand Jury to hear audio recordings of Harrell’s phone conversations?

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anonymous March 24, 2014 at 5:34 am

Why don’t you pound on someone’s desk and talk a little louder, no one gives a crap about what you are saying.

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anonymous March 24, 2014 at 6:47 am

FRIDAY’S HEARING AND TESTIMONY

For Harrell, his chief of staff, Brad Wright, took the stand and told of an April 2013 confidential meeting between him and Wilson during which, Wright said, Wilson pounded his desk and angrily told Wright to take a verbal message to Harrell. The message was that Harrell had better support the formation of a Public Integrity Unit in an ethics bill under consideration in the House at the time.

Wright said Wilson also told him he “had friends with deep pockets who could make this an issue if he had to” – a statement that Wright said he understood as a threat. Wright said he left the meeting so shaken he talked to fellow lawyers at the time and wrote a memo about it.

At the hearing’s end, Wilson left though a back door and did not speak to reporters.

Harrell did speak, saying he was glad the hearing had been made public.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2014/03/21/3339515/judges-ruling-sc-house-speaker.html#storylink=cpy

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Bible Thumper March 24, 2014 at 7:21 am

So What! It was a private meeting in which details are in dispute. Even if the threats are true they are of a political nature (deep pocket friends), not involving a crime or misuse of office. I think it is still legal to threaten to support someone’s political foes.

There is just not enough here to indicate that Wilson would be too biased to continue on this case. Good try though. Pounding fists on table? Brad Wright sounds like a wimp maybe ambiguously gay.

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anonymous March 24, 2014 at 10:48 am

Brad Wright’s sworn testimony is very powerful testimony, not only that, but he documented the meeting in a memo. Wilson should think twice about threatening another attorney or the Speaker of the House. Not too bright as they say. The gay comment is lame and it has nothing to do with the legal issues that Wilson has entangled himself in. The best Wilson can do going forward, is to leave through the back door. You tell me who sounds like a whimp, maybe ambiguously gay.

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