South Carolina Senate Race: ‘Let His Criminal Record Speak For Itself’

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“A MAN WHO HITS A WOMAN IS NOT FIT TO SERVE. A MAN WHO CANNOT FOLLOW THE LAW SHOULD NOT MAKE THE LAW. BE CAREFUL AROUND MATT LEBER.”

Those are the words emblazoned on South Carolina senator Sandy Senn‘s new website – which was created to level claims of domestic violence and other criminality against state representative Matthew Leber. The incidents cited by Senn require further investigation in order to determine if Leber truly “cannot follow the law” – or if Senn is disregarding her obligation as an attorney not to “knowingly misstate or improperly distort any fact or opinion” in her attacks on her S.C. Senate District 41 primary election rival.

Senn’s allegations stem from a number of past incidents involving Leber, some originating from his relationship with his ex-wife, another from a dispute with a non-paying tenant, and a third from a Kiawah Island pedestrian who witnessed Leber’s dog fall out of the back of his truck.

FITSNews spoke with sources and reviewed documents to assess the veracity of these allegations. While the documents linked on Senn’s site offer jarring insights certain to raise the eyebrows of primary voters, our investigation uncovered heretofore unseen evidence challenging some of Senn’s interpretations of events.

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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ALLEGATIONS …

Senn’s most serious allegations stem from Leber’s acrimonious separation from his former wife. According to Senn, Leber:

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While one might assume after reading this claim that Leber fled with his daughter, pulled a gun on her and abandoned her – a review of the underlying document show Senn’s summation is missing context. For starters, the claim is documented in an application (.pdf) for emergency protection filed by Leber’s then-wife.

Senn’s claim that Leber drove the child “across state lines” neglects to inform the reader he was driving the child to his wife’s mother’s home – giving the false impression that this was an inherently nefarious act. Also, what Senn refers to as “pulling a gun” on the child doesn’t appear to have been done in a threatening manner. Court documents make no mention of any brandishing of the weapon – or any behavior typically associated with “pulling” a gun.

Despite apparent omissions of context in Senn’s explanation of the situation, it should be noted a North Carolina district court judge found sufficient evidence to grant Leber’s wife an ex parte (outside of the presence of the other party) order of protection, determining Leber had committed acts of domestic violence against his wife.

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Also, Leber was subsequently arrested in connection with a domestic violence incident. FITSNews was not able to obtain records indicating whether this arrest resulted in prosecution.

Despite these events, Leber was granted custody of the child he fathered with his first wife. Documents show the pair mutually agreeing Leber would keep custody of the girl while his wife would keep custody of the child she had prior to their marriage – whom Leber had previously adopted.

Leber’s daughter has gone on record saying her father was falsely accused by her mother.

“My mom falsely accused my dad, Matt Leber, who had and maintained full custody of me, in an effort to see me without paying child support,” Savanah Leber said.

She chastised Senn for “involving yourself in my personal, deep, family issues.”

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While FITSNews was not able to obtain sufficient documentation to prove or disprove claims that Leber was falsely accused, records show Leber’s first wife repeatedly failed to make court mandated child support payments.

FITSNews spoke with Leber’s other daughter from his first marriage. She told this news outlet her sister was lied to by her father, and that Leber prevented communication between the siblings.

Leber told this news outlet that his being granted custody of his daughter is evidence in itself that the court viewed the allegations of abuse as frivolous, and reminded us that the judge who granted the temporary protective order did so without his presence or ability to defend himself prior to the issuance of the order.

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GEORGIA TENANT DISPUTE …

Senn’s site also attacked Leber for his arrest on stalking charges in Georgia. FITSNews has obtained court records showing the dismissal of this charge.

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Additionally, we found evidence that the woman who claimed to have been stalked was herself criminally sentenced after entering a guilty plea related to her willful destruction of Leber’s property. She was further ordered to pay nearly $60,000 in damages – and have no further contact with Leber – after she stole several appliances, put holes in the wall, smoked indoors, and allowed her pets to use the bathroom inside of a residence she was renting from Leber.

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KIAWAH DOG INCIDENT …

Leber was also involved in an incident on Kiawah Island, S.C. after his dog jumped out of the back of his truck – frightening onlookers who believed the animal may have been injured.

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A bystander told Charleston County sheriff’s deputies she was pushed away by Leber’s current wife Michelle Leber when she attempted to approach the animal to see if it was injured.

FITSNews spoke with a witness to the event on condition of anonymity. When asked about the confrontation they responded that they didn’t “want to say too much” and have their name “drawn into the Senate race” but that “it was an unsettling event.”

“And you know, they were upset,” the witness said. “It was scary incident, and I’m just going to leave it at that.”

Senn published the first half of the resulting incident report on her website, but left out the second half in which the responding officer described Leber’s response to the situation as “calm and productive.”

This unpublished second half of the report also contained the account of a second bystander who described Leber’s wife as “rude,” alleging she called the gate attendant a “loser” after they refused to allow the Lebers to enter without speaking to deputies.

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When asked why this half of the report was not made publicly available, Senn told FITSNews this was an error – and quickly moved to update the site.

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I would like to personally apologize for the error. When you have 4 inches of police reports piled on your desk it’s easy to miss one of the hundreds of pages.

— Push Digital Group (@PD_GroupLLC) March 27, 2024

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Leber contends the whole incident was blown out of proportion.

“Karen’s like the busy-body who called the police on my dog do Karen-ish things,” he said. “We see it all the time. My wife and I take our dogs to the beach for fresh air and to give them a chance to run.”

Leber pointed to his commendation in the report saying “all you have to do is read the police report to see where the officer thanked me for de-escalating the whole situation.”

“Sandy Senn has also now attacked even my dogs,” Leber said. “What will desperate Sandy say next?”

“Matt Leber has an excuse for everything,” Senn’s political consultant, Wesley Donehue, said. “It’s always someone else’s fault.”

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WHO IS MATT LEBER?

Senn’s site asks the question “Who is Matt Leber?” While a neutral examination of the allegations leveled against him revealed inconsistencies in some of Senn’s accusations, the underlying documents – particularly the court order granting his wife an order of protection – will likely continue to create problems for him in what is shaping up to be a bitter primary campaign.

Senn’s voting record also promises to remain relevant. The 60-year-old Orangeburg, S.C. native – who runs Charleston-based law firm – is one of South Carolina’s “sister senators,” a group female senators who repeatedly opposed a recent six-week abortion ban.

Leber made it clear he intends to capitalize on this issue in the upcoming primary race.

“Sandy Senn has a record,” Leber said. “One of lying about me and voting against the Republican Party platform. I support conservative values, and did what I said I would do in the S.C. House. I voted to eradicate our state from abortion-on-demand. Sandy Senn voted against it and received a Kennedy Award for being a liberal leader.”

Leber also emphasized his voting record on other conservative issues.

“I voted to restore full Second Amendment rights to law abiding citizens,” he said. “Sandy Senn voted against it. I also voted to ban gender reassignment procedures (and drugs) for minors. She supports it. There are clear differences between Sandy Senn and I. I’m running on my record — and hers.”

Senn voted for the clean passage of constitutional carry, and FITSNews hasn’t found any evidence of her public support of transgender procedures.

Senn told FITSNews “where there’s smoke there’s fire” citing the numerous 9-1-1 calls to Leber’s home and his various legal drams before cryptically adding that Leber “is going to have a lot to explain in his own personal life when it comes to abortion.”

Count on FITSNews to continue seeking the truth in what is poised to be a knock-down drag-out primary battle.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

(Via: Travis Bell)

Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.

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