Josh Kimbrell Saga: Court Order Puts S.C. Senator On Defensive

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by WILL FOLKS

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Earlier this month, FITSNews exclusively reported on a bombshell civil complaint involving South Carolina senator Josh Kimbrell. The lawsuit accused Kimbrell of defrauding his former aviation company of $2 million via various alleged schemes which plaintiffs claim involved his wife, Liliya Kimbrell, and an Upstate banker.

One of the alleged schemes? The creation of a fake South Carolina business – Exodus Airways LLC – to divert money from Exodus Aircraft LLC, the Delaware-based company Kimbrell co-owned and managed.

The complaint has reportedly sparked a related criminal investigation into the 40-year-old former radio host, who was elected to the S.C. Senate in 2020 (and reelected last fall).

Filed by his former business partner, Frank George Rogers of Greenville, S.C., the lawsuit (.pdf) came just weeks after Kimbrell formally announced his candidacy for governor of the Palmetto State. According to Kimbrell, the complaint is part of a political vendetta – a “coordinated campaign” of “targeted lawfare” against him.

“What we’re dealing with here is nothing short of a politically motivated attack, an orchestrated attempt by entrenched forces in Columbia to distract us from the real work that needs to be done,” Kimbrell said last week.

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While Kimbrell does his best to spin the allegations in the press, an Upstate judge has dropped the hammer on him.

As we reported in our original coverage, S.C. circuit court judge G.D. Morgan Jr. issued a temporary injunction in the case earlier this month – citing the potential for “immediate and irreparable harm” to the plaintiffs in this case. This week, Morgan issued a more muscular preliminary injunction imposing sweeping obligations on Kimbrell and the other co-defendants.

According to Morgan’s order (.pdf), Kimbrell surrendered any ownership interest in Exodus Aircraft – the company he owned with Rogers – and resigned immediately from his position with the business. He further agreed to “surrender immediately” corporate credit cards and business records – and to cease using the Exodus name in his future business dealings.

The order also instructed the “enjoined parties” in the case (including Kimbrell and his wife) to take no action regarding “any corporate monies diverted from Exodus Aircraft,” a telling reference.

Former S.C. thirteenth circuit solicitor Walt Wilkins – who is representing the plaintiffs in the case – told FITSNews Morgan’s order in the case was “compelling.”

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RELATED | SENATOR PUSHES BACK AGAINST BOMBSHELL LAWSUIT

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“We do not comment on pending litigation apart from noting that the evidence supporting the preliminary injunction was so compelling that the defendants consented to all our requested relief and more without even having a hearing,” Wilkins noted.

Kimbrell told Jane Robelot of Upstate television station WYFF TV-4 (NBC – Greenville/Spartanburg) that he entered into the agreement “at the advice and direction” of his legal team and that his signature on the order “is in no way an admission or suggestion that the case filed against me and my wife has merit.”

“This lawsuit is frivolous, absurd and political gamesmanship,” Kimbrell’s statement the station added.

Kimbrell has consistently sought to paint the lawsuit against him as evidence of the “Columbia swamp” coming after him. As FITSNews has previously pointed out, however, Kimbrell is very much a part of that swamp.

While he positions himself as a conservative, Kimbrell’s recent left-of-center votes – and more recently his subservience to the Palmetto State’s toxic trial lawyer lobby – have exposed a mile-wide status quo streak.

Kimbrell has barely registered as a blip in the unfolding 2026 governor’s race, drawing an anemic 1.7% support in the most recent public polling. That puts him behind every other announced/anticipated candidate in the race. Kimbrell also trails the GOP gubernatorial field in fundraising with only $6,400 in contributions, per a filing with the S.C. State Ethics Commission (SCSEC).

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THE ORDER…

(S.C. Thirteenth Circuit)

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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 eight children.

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