By Harriet McLeod
CHARLESTON, S.C., April 11 (Reuters) – A state ethics
commission is investigating allegations that South Carolina
Republican Governor Nikki Haley did not report some campaign
donors’ addresses or maintain proper record of the occupations
for hundreds of contributors.
Ethics commissioners sent a letter on March 29 finding that
“probable cause exists to support the alleged violation,” and
set a formal hearing for July 18. The finding is just now
gaining media attention.
The complaint against the governor, filed last summer on
behalf of the South Carolina Democratic Party, alleges that
Haley’s campaign misreported more than $1.3 million in campaign
contributions by failing to collect required donor information.
The ethics commission hearing will focus on allegations that
six donors’ addresses were missing and the Haley campaign failed
to keep records of some donors’ occupations.
Haley could be fined up to $14,000 if she is found to have
violated state ethics law, according to the commission.
The governor’s campaign said it already had provided the
commission with four of the six missing addresses. The remaining
two donors contributed “a total of $326.78,” Haley campaign
attorney Butch Bowers said on Wednesday.
The campaign will treat those as anonymous donations and
give the money to the nonprofit Children’s Trust, which is
allowed under ethics rules, he said.
“Our hope is that we will resolve it with the ethics
commission without a hearing,” Bowers said. “We believe that
there shouldn’t be a fine. There’s no violation.”
(Editing By Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman)
