‘Days Of Our Congressman’: Court Date Set For William Timmons’ Mistress

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South Carolina congressman William Timmons remains at the epicenter of a yet-to-be-resolved sex scandal of his own making – one with some important dates looming on his calendar in the not-too-distant future.

For starters, Timmons’ mistress – Paula Dhier – is preparing to go to court against her estranged husband in Greenville County in mid-September. Not only is Timmons scheduled to be a witness in the acrimonious divorce/ custody battle between Dhier and Upstate real estate developer Ron Rallis, we have recently received reports he is helping subsidize Dhier’s legal representation.

And what representation, at that …

Dhier’s attorney is influential S.C. House ways and means chairman Bruce Bannister – one of the powerful lawyer-legislators who picks and chooses judges in South Carolina. This notoriously corrupt judicial selection process has consistently perverted the course of justice in the Palmetto State – routinely giving influential lawyer-legislators like Bannister an unfair advantage in the courtrooms where they appear.

Will we see this insidious influence at work in this trial?

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We’ll know on September 18, 2023 when this case gavels to order in Greenville County family court – hopefully in the light of day as opposed to being moved behind locked doors. You know, because nothing says “rigged system” quite like keeping the press and public out of its own courtrooms – where lawyer-legislators argue in front of the judges they appoint (and whose salaries they set).

To recap the origins of this case: The collapse of Dhier’s marriage to Rallis was fueled in part by her affair with Timmons – a 39-year-old fortunate son serving in his third term as U.S. congressman for the Palmetto State’s fourth congressional district. Timmons hails from Greenville, where is family is a five-generation institution.

His great-grandfather – William R. Timmons Sr. – built an empire in the Upstate beginning in the mid-1920s, focusing on the real estate, trucking and insurance industries. The family – which helped establish the city’s civic and philanthropic communities – is reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

All that money has failed to purchase class for many members of the current generation, however, with Timmons and his siblings dodging several scandals in recent years.

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The congressman didn’t dodge this scandal, obviously … although sources familiar with its origins believe it began as part of a calculated bid to blow up his marriage.

As our readers will recall, Timmons initiated his own sex scandal last spring via an unsolicited “prayers and privacy” statement issued to this news outlet. Timmons’ statement was provided in response to rumors of an extramarital affair with Dhier. As I have often pointed out, though, this news outlet never asked Timmons for a statement about his affair – nor did we indicate we had any plans to publish a story related to the allegations against him.

In fact, we had no plans to report on the affair … at least not until Timmons publicly acknowledged a “difficult private matter” involving his wife.

Once the statement was out, though, the story blew up … and it has continued to blow up thanks to the public theater of Rallis, a fit, swarthy “darling” of Greenville’s Augusta Road housewives. Last year, Rallis walked into a West End Greenville church he previously purchased – and painted pink – and gave this news outlet an exclusive interview regarding his starring role in the Timmons’ sex scandal.

As television crews gathered outside, Rallis spoke passionately about his battle for custody of his daughter with Dhier.

Rallis has been so good at ginning up attention on this case that producers of the Bravo TV reality television show Southern Charm recently offered him a spot on their program.

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Silencing Rallis has become Timmons’ raison d’être in recent months – and he got his wish earlier this year when family court judge Timothy Madden sentenced the wealthy developer to three months in jail on a contempt charge. As I noted at the time, this was a ridiculously harsh sentence considering accused and convicted killers are routinely set free by Palmetto State judges.

Instead, over a handful of hotheaded Instagram posts Rallis was locked up with accused killers for three months.

Since his release, Rallis has been holed up with his lawyer/ lover Erika Baldwin of Easley, S.C. – although he is reportedly represented in the family court matter by Columbia attorney John McDougall. As noted in our prior coverage, though, Baldwin has emerged as quite a key player in this still-unfolding drama.

How did we get here?

Dhier’s affair with Timmons reportedly began in 2021 when she was living off-and-on with various members of the Timmons family – including the congressman and his wife, Sarah Timmons. Dhier and Sarah Timmons were longtime friends – “best friends” of more than seven years, in fact – according to multiple sources familiar with the status of their relationship.

The Timmons were married on the Robert J. Dole balcony of the U.S. Capitol on July 17, 2019 – a little more than four years ago. U.S. senator (and 2024 presidential contender) Tim Scott officiated at their wedding ceremony – which was held six months after Timmons was sworn in as a member of congress.

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A former assistant solicitor, Timmons was elected to the South Carolina Senate in November 2016 – ousting longtime incumbent Mike Fair. He served half a term in the chamber prior to announcing his bid to replace Trey Gowdy as congressman for the fourth district – which includes the Greenville and Spartanburg metropolitan areas.

After winning a runoff election in 2018, Timmons was reelected in 2020 and 2022 – although his most recent primary victory over a trio of virtually unknown candidates was underwhelming. Timmons – who was unopposed in the general election last fall – also surrendered a surprisingly robust 9.19 percent of the vote to write-in candidate Lee Turner.

Timmons has made it clear he will seek a fourth term in 2024 – but is expected to face a more imposing field of challengers this go-round.

As he plans his reelection, Timmons is still struggling mightily to extricate himself from the Dhier scandal. Meanwhile, reports of additional affairs have attracted congressional scrutiny – although Timmons has thus far escaped any consequences from those alleged dalliances.

The more oxygen this story gets, though … the less likely his luck will continue to hold.

And while Rallis certainly fanned the flames of the scandal, Timmons’ own indignant response to the story further fueled the conflagration. The congressman invited even more scrutiny when he gave his estranged wife a valuable piece of property – apparently in exchange for her silence as it related to his extramarital extracurriculars.

Additionally, Timmons has reportedly sent threatening messages to Rallis in attempt to browbeat him into settling the family court case on terms favorable to Dhier.

Timmons and his wife formally separated in November 2022, and his relationship with Dhier has been described as “off and on” since the separation was announced. While part-timing his paramour – whom he recently moved to Washington, D.C. – Timmons has continued to play up his social conservative “credentials,” though. Earlier this week, he appeared at a prayer breakfast hosted by senator Scott where he discussed the “courage, resolve and faith” he believed were necessary to reorient the downward trajectory of our nation.

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As for Dhier, in addition to being embroiled in a nasty divorce/ custody case with Rallis, she is reportedly in danger of being sued by a former employee. As I reported two months ago, Dhier has been accused of using the name and email address of this individual to send “salacious” messages to various recipients – messages which purportedly included “nude photos of herself.”

According to our sources, attorneys for Dhier and the former employee – Ann Stewart Hickerson – have been in negotiations ever since our story on these alleged nude photos was first published.

This news outlet has been seen a handful of these messages, but as noted in a prior report though “the racy content bore the name and address of a former employee of Dhier … it was not immediately verifiable whether Dhier sent the message.” Or whether the nude photograph attached to the message was of Dhier or someone else.

Since that report was published, we have confirmed Dhier is the woman featured in the nude pictures.

Count on this news outlet to continue pushing for transparency ahead of the September family court proceedings involving Dhier, Rallis and Timmons. Also, count on us to continue keeping our readers apprised of other legal actions involving this cast of characters.

Timmons clearly started something last summer when he set this chain of events in motion … and we intend to follow it through to its conclusion. We further intend to hold the congressman and those doing his dirty work accountable along the way.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR ...

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.

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