THE LAW IS ON HIS SIDE … AS IS WILSON’S OWN INTENT
Let’s forget for a moment the unseemly politics, seemingly deliberate obstructionism and borderline unhinged “justifications” associated with S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson‘s ongoing efforts to sidetrack an investigation into public corruption among members of the S.C. General Assembly.
Let’s also forget for a moment the rank hypocrisy associated with Wilson’s position on this matter (here and here).
We’ve already weighed in on all of that … and it took us virtually no time at all to reach what we believe to be the correct conclusion.
At the end of the day, though, none of those considerations will matter to the five individuals who will determine whether this investigation is allowed to proceed … or is stopped in its tracks at its penultimate moment.
What matters – or should matter – to the five justices of the S.C. Supreme Court is the law governing the statewide grand jury.
Ready for the twist? This law was substantially modified last June – with Wilson serving as the lead advocate for this so-called “grand jury reform.”
You can read the new law here, but the gist of it is pretty simple: S.C. first circuit solicitor David Pascoe has the right to proceed with this investigation.
In fact, here’s the relevant passage from the revised statute …
The state grand jury may continue with its investigation and the Attorney General or the solicitor or his designee may continue to serve as legal advisor to the state grand jury with all authority, functions, and responsibilities set forth in this article …
Catch that line?
“Or the solicitor or his designee.”
Pascoe is Wilson’s designee. In fact he has been for the last eight months.
“Out of an abundance of caution, (Wilson) has designated Solicitor Pascoe to handle any matters involving certain legislative members,” Wilson’s office wrote last July in recusing himself from the case.
Wilson never identified the lawmakers in question, nor did he ever explain why he was conflicted, but his action triggered the section of the new law in which the solicitor “assumes (Wilson’s) functions and duties pursuant to this article.”
Among these “functions and duties?” The authority to “examine witnesses, present evidence, and draft indictments and reports upon the direction of a state grand jury.”
In other words, we are talking about precisely the sort of prosecutorial authority Wilson is now attempting to subvert – in direct contravention of his previously acknowledged conflicts of interest.
In addition to the language of the law, we have the matter of intent – specifically Wilson’s explicit attempt to preserve the integrity of the investigation by removing himself from it.
“It provides for a mechanism to keep him out of the case,” one Columbia, S.C. attorney familiar with the statutes told us. “That’s why it’s ludicrous to believe he has to sign off on the grand jury slip.”
Indeed …
Wilson is claiming Pascoe is “tainted,” but he has offered absolutely nothing to support this contention.
“The only proof Wilson offered for any of this was leaks to the media about the ongoing investigation – and he would not even accuse Pascoe of personally making them,” reporter Brian Hicks of The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier recently noted.
Hicks also concurs that Wilson cannot “un-recuse” himself in the case.
“How is it recusing yourself if you get to decide – without seeing the evidence – if a case merits a trip to the grand jury?” he wrote.
Indeed … especially given Wilson’s previously acknowledged conflicts, which are widely presumed to stem from his proximity to the neo-Confederate political empire of Richard Quinn and Associates.
It is abundantly clear at this point Wilson is actively seeking to subvert this investigation. That’s the bad news.
The good news? It is also abundantly clear – based on the law and based on Wilson’s own intent – that he has absolutely no right to do so.
Assuming it is so inclined (and we hope it is not), the S.C. Supreme Court would have to go to great lengths in order to justify Wilson’s current obstructionism. Not only that, such a ruling would have long-term and exceedingly adverse impacts on the integrity of future public corruption investigations – to say nothing of the public trust.
57 comments
The Law you say, pish posh this is South Carolina, the home of the Gypsy Queen, the epicenter of double dealing, back stabbing, corkscrewing, black hearted, son of a bitch Fuckin’ Cockroach politics and you dare to quote the Law to me !!!!
As an Entitled Legacy Fuckin’ Cockroach I say, Fuck the Law and Fuck the Horse it Rides
sincerely
The Woodchuck, aka Attorney General Wilson
To be honest with you I could care less about the damn political contributions stuff. I am interested in the people that take money out of my paycheck, call it taxes and then steal or waste it.
Why does no one give a crap about that?
PO was well almost in the know but too slow to connect the dots
Airheads elect well airheads and then SC politics is yep…shot !!!
“Why does no one give a crap about that?”
People do, but the average Joe is overwhelmed with just getting by in daily life so his priorities are often elsewhere.
Rothbard termed this “rational disinterest”- meaning deep down many people know that government is unfixable, so their concern goes to more immediate things that they can control.
Now, if your average Joe was a little more sociopathic, like most in office, he’d actually strive to become the “boot instead of the ass”(similar to police, etc.)- but the average Joe you see is a mostly decent person that doesn’t want to live a daily lie(or be a sociopath) in exchange for power(and/or wealth).
The masses may be uneducated many times or disinterested, but people who aren’t sociopaths actually generally want to be left alone and engage in voluntary exchange; meaning live a peaceful and productive life for their own betterment.
Pols/sociopaths want to control everything/everyone and live(well) at others expense.
Nicely said …
Explains why exit polls of SC Democratic voters for Hillary Clinton listed Honesty as only 36% important. While jobs was given as over 60% important. The fools failed to even see the relationship between dishonest politicians and the rotten economy with all their jobs going off shore.
I doubt the GOP had any better numbers.
Nicely said. I googled “Rothbard rational disinterest,” and got this same comment (it’s yours.) Thought you’d like to know.
The issue is another change in the law. The Clerk of Court was put under the authority of the AG. The Clerk of Court was directed by Wilson not to swear in Pascoe as an officer of the Grand Jury court.
Is that part of the law constitutional?
Did Wilson give the authority to Pascoe as his designee to direct the Clerk to swear him in?
The Clerk of Court doesn’t have the ability to deny someone a swearing in-it’s compulsory under the law. Because Pascoe is acting as the AG’s designee, the Clerk acts according to Pascoe’s directive, not Wilson’s, for this matter, and the swearing in should be a mere formality.
Wilson cannot recuse himself from the matter, but continue to control whether a Grand Jury should be convened. That’s not a recusal in any sense of the word. Upon designating Pacsoe as the solicitor in charge of the investigation, Wilson vested in Pascoe ALL rights and powers that accompany such a designation, including the ability to convene a grand jury. Consequently, the Clerk cannot refuse to swear them in, just as he cannot refuse to swear in the AG’s staff when Wilson desires to convene a SGJ.
Alan rebutted on Friday…well at least my pappy Joe was in
the know and wasn’t found to be lying
You know—he didn’t stab SC conservatives by sticking his
head up RINOs Boehner and Paul Ryan
And at least he said Hell no we won’t rip down the flag of patriots
by NOT letting YOU get to vote
And he didn’t give the most incompetent presiDENT in history
fast-track and try to make you a goat
Yep…he and mammy refused that taxpayer-PAID vacation to
Hawaii—their most modest move to date
And of course we KNOW you’ll be slow and reelect Joe and me
the next chance you get…NO…WAIT !!!
At least SC still ripped down the flag of traitors, God bless SC!
Senators Bright, Verdin and Peeler had the guts to honor
patriots and Southern heritage by voting to KEEP the flag
And there are 20 House members with steadfast loyalty whom
Tea WILL support and about whom we can brag
Those patriot House members are Bedingfield, Burns, Chumley,
Corley, Delleney, Hardee, Hill, Johnson and Kennedy
Then Loftis—Moss (both D.C. and V.S.), Nanney, Putnam,
Simrill, Spires, Stringer, Taylor, Thaylor—and let’s see
White makes twenty and that is plenty of reason to get out
and vote this year and beyond that let us just say
Legislators’ names YOU DON’T SEE HERE…let us make it crystal
clear…need to be UNELECTED on election day !!!
I’m voting for whoever voted in favor of taking that hateful flag down, that I am.
Senators Bright, Verdin and Peeler had the guts to honor
patriots and Southern heritage by voting to KEEP the flag
And there are 20 House members with steadfast loyalty whom
Tea WILL support and about whom we can brag
Those patriot House members are Bedingfield, Burns, Chumley,
Corley, Delleney, Hardee, Hill, Johnson and Kennedy
Then Loftis—Moss (both D.C. and V.S.), Nanney, Putnam,
Simrill, Spires, Stringer, Taylor, Thaylor—and let’s see
White makes twenty and that is plenty of reason to get out
and vote this year and beyond that let us just say
Legislators’ names YOU DON’T SEE HERE—let us make it crystal
clear…need to be UNELECTED on election day !!!
No more confederate flag, praise the Lord!
Senators Bright, Verdin and Peeler had the guts to honor
patriots and Southern heritage by voting to KEEP the flag
And there are 20 House members with steadfast loyalty whom
Tea WILL support and about whom we can brag
Those patriot House members are Bedingfield, Burns, Chumley,
Corley, Delleney, Hardee, Hill, Johnson and Kennedy
Then Loftis—Moss (both D.C. and V.S.), Nanney, Putnam,
Simrill, Spires, Stringer, Taylor, Thaylor—and let’s see
White makes twenty and that is plenty of reason to get out
and vote this year and beyond that let us just say
Legislators’ names YOU DON’T SEE HERE—let us make it
crystal clear—need to be UNELECTED on election day !!!
It’s gone, gone, gone! Yay!!!!!
Senators Bright, Verdin and Peeler had the guts to honor
patriots and Southern heritage by voting to KEEP the flag
And there are 20 House members with steadfast loyalty whom
Tea WILL support and about whom we can brag
Those patriot House members are Bedingfield, Burns, Chumley,
Corley, Delleney, Hardee, Hill, Johnson and Kennedy
Then Loftis—Moss (both D.C. and V.S.), Nanney, Putnam,
Simrill, Spires, Stringer, Taylor, Thaylor—and let’s see
White makes twenty and that is plenty of reason to get out
and vote this year and beyond that let us just say
Legislators’ names YOU DON’T SEE HERE—let us make it
crystal clear—need to be UNELECTED on election day !!!
Agree with you but Loftis must go.. A vile man, with a very sick sense of value.. corrupted with a gross life style.. Paying friends and friends of friends… from my taxes and my hard work money.. He did drink enough out of the teats of government and my taxes. unelected on elected day. Curtis Melvin must go..
Reynolds Williams and Michael Hitchcock encourage the posting go this filth. Retirement System Investment commission should stop this. Dismiss Michael Hitchcock and Reynolds Williams.
Go to hell, Curtis Melvin Loftis.. You are way above your head in shit. No brain, no smarts. You are posting shit on Alan Wilson and he will soon find out that you are a crook.. a vile no good bastard..
lee,
lee,
lee,
Moving to the treasurer now? Allan not enough for you to trash?
But same old SC people and same old bullshit…that will never change.
They rally arround Trump, now that the flag is gone.
Joke is on them, Trump is going down just like the flag did.
OT:
How did FITSNEWS get scooped by WIS and the New York Daily News on THIS?
C’mon man!!!
He lost his connection.. he simply doesn’t have the energy he used to.
Hopefully in 2018, the Haley and Wilson families will pack up and go somewhere else. Anywhere but Lexington.
They are not going anywhere. A few have crazed anonymous posters and a lousy news cycle or two does not erase a lot of good work on the Wilsons part.
Keep dreaming, but you will be gone before they are.
Beware, Curtis Melvin Loftis wants to be governor.. Alan Wilson wants to be governor.. Alan has a degree. Curt does have a bug degree and Curtee did babysit Alan Wilson.. Curtis Loftis is spreading this crap about Alan Wilson.. Alan Wilson.. Your worst enemy is Curtis Melvin Loftis… Beware and look around.. Loftis is not a friend of yours. Curtis Melvin Loftis is a vile man… Do not trust him… ever.
Sam Griswold and his helper Lee Teed just love to post filth on line.
How much would it cost Reynolds Williams and Michael Hitchcock to pay for this filth?
Why David Pascoe Should Win His Supreme Court Battle With Alan Wilson
Not if Trump’s Establishment cronies have anything to do with it. Jim Merrill, Trump’s State campaign director and target of Pascoe’s investigation. Henry McMaster, Trump’s most prominent SC endorsement who supports Wilson’s obstruction of justice.
So what do you do for a living BT? If you don’t want to answer I understand, I’d prefer a non-answer to a lie- I’m just curious.
No, I won’t tell. But I have two part time jobs that Obamacare really hurt me on hours I can work. I would be better of with a full time job. My jobs are related to construction, which took the biggest hit during the recession.
You’re a good man.I have strong feelings about political issues however I do post things in ‘jest’ to stir the pot at times.Smart man you’re.
Hope all works out job wise.
“But I have two part time jobs that Obamacare really hurt me on hours I can work.”
I’m really sorry to hear that. I had my own challenges as a business owner with the ACA-
If it helps you, I was able to do a Healthcare Sharing Ministry which saved me huge bucks and gets me by the ACA requirement.
The irony is my employees have better healthcare than me due to regulations because basically I’m not allowed to do a HDHP with a HSA as a business owner; the government is afraid business owners will take advantage of it….
It seems like there’s been a mini boom in construction in Lexington for whatever it’s worth…maybe you can look in that area.
Why did Lee Teed, AKA Town Crier, stop trashing Alan Wilson once she was exposed? Is it because she is now shown to be a vindictive lying bitch? Shown to be someone that lives to anonymously to liable people? Is she worried that her employment at HHS will be in jeapordy when it is discovered she was trashing her boss Governor Haley?
I don’t know the answers to those questions but I do know that the HHS and the AG’s office ought to be more careful in who they hire. Character matters. Low character individules must not be given access to state jobs.
“I don’t know the answers to those questions but I do know that the HHS and the AG’s office ought to be more careful in who they hire. Character matters. Low character individules(sic) must not be given access to state jobs.”-JD
I don’t know either one of you but if a low character “individule” is defined by you as one who gets disgusted with the good ole boy network and shines a light on a abuse of the Public trust then I think you well could use some self examination. You haven’t refuted the statements. You have only shown displeasure at her revelations. If her job becomes in “jeapordy” then she can bring the Feds in so I’m not so sure you want to go that route?
I have not tried to refute Lee Teed and her accusations and I won’t. Lee Teed and her low character also her to trash anyone she wants. To libel and defame seems ok to her. No facts to refute, she just assonates the character of others from behind the stagey of her fake name.
I despise a coward. You can stand with cowards or against them. That is your choice.
I haven’t gone anywhere, J.D. I don’t usually respond to follow ups, but I have to tell you that you’re attacking the wrong person. So peace out.
Golly, Ms. Teed. You post here and a minute later another anonymous, filthy attack below. Lee, think back, you know how i know who you are. You should not have started attacking our former boss.
All this reminds me of the story of the woman who felt sorry for the cold snake and picked it up only to be bitten when he warmed up. Pasco’s only intent is to be AG some day.
Either that or he’s a good guy, trying to do his job and getting stone walled.
See very little future in trying to bring down the good ole boys, even though they do seem to be dropping like flies lately, he’s onto something big and they don’t like it, period, my opinion.
A quick search of Pascoe’s name on the ethics commission website proves his desire to be attorney general. Word at that time was that after opening his account to run for AG, he declined to run to avoid scrutiny of his personal life.
Wilson certainly can “un-recuse” himself, since he did so voluntarily, based only on “appearance of impropriety.” It may smell bad and be dumb politically, but can he do this? Yes. He can also replace a Special Prosecutor, for a good reason or for no reason at all. The only thing that would prevent this is if Wilson has an actual conflict and is disqualified by a judge. That hasn’t happened. But yes, whoever is prosecuting the matter can impanel a grand jury. It doesn’t have to be the AG.
Remember that the Crooked SC Supreme Court is elected by the same crooks Pascoe is investigating. Don’t expect them to let Pascoe proceed, as he might bring them down too. The only solution is for Obama to appoint a special Federal Prosecutor to take them all out.
Watch your back , Alan Wilson… Curtis Melvin Loftis babysat Alan Wilson and now wants him gone… In the way of the governorship. Yes, The babysitter is now the back stabber. Watch your back and your front.. Alan Wilson, the babysitter is the back stabber .. Curtis Melvin Loftis.. Hehehe
Why does the Retirement Commission Investment Commission hire their lackey Sam Griswold to post vicious things about elected officials?
What does executive director Michael Hitchcock hope to gain by libeling elected officials?
What does Reynolds Williams hope to gain by hiring filthy talking bloggers?
Does Reynolds Williams and Michael Hitchcock hate Alan Wilson, the AG? Reynolds Williams and Michael Hitchcock are lawyers too.
Curtis has officially said he will not run for governor in 2018.
The SC Supreme Court is just another political flunky in this state.
Dumb as crap Beatty and I’m a political whore Hearn will vote however Toal tells them to vote. John “my back is hurting, give me a pill” Kittridge will vote however Sen Fair tells him to vote. Pleicones and Few have 3 retards to deal with. One FACT is that Pleicones needs to get rid of Coggiola and Seymour. They are backstabbing him daily. Write it down and watch if you don’t believe this to be true.
Before we go condemning everybody to hell, remember that each side in this play (there are three) has enormous and powerful forces in its support. Pascoe’s family is very tight with the local Charleston newspaper purveyors and several upstate power people. Alan’s supporters are not his dad’s and has had words with him over some of his investigations.
I am NOT saying that there is no corruption – Lord Acton had it right. Just be as vigilant in your discerning are you are vigorous in your condemnations.
Wilson is a disgrace who doesn’t even deserve to say the pascoe name