COLOMBIA – SC Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office gave the final Statehouse investigation cases to Spartanburg prosecutor Barry Barnette, a month after a longtime special prosecutor returned control of the investigation to Wilson.
Barnette, the 7th Circuit attorney since 2011, will handle cases of corruption and perjury against former state deputies Jim Harrison and Tracy Edge, former state senator John Courson and Republican Party political adviser Richard Quinn.
As he did when handing over control of the investigation in 2014, Wilson had a conflict with the defendants. Quinn, considered one of the most prominent creators of political kings in the state, led Wilson’s campaigns. The former lawmakers were Quinn’s customers or employees.
The judgment of cases continues to have political overtones.
Harrison, Edge and Courson are all Republicans along with Wilson. The former lawmakers were all charged when the investigation was controlled by Democratic first-circuit prosecutor David Pascoe of Orangeburg. Now, the cases will be handled by Barnette, a Republican who succeeded Trey Gowdy in office.
During a six-year stint at the helm of the investigation, Pascoe obtained pleas of guilt and verdicts against Quinn and five Republican lawmakers, including Quinn’s son, but not without Wilson suing to regain control.
Wilson was unsuccessful until Harrison sued his conviction for corruption and perjury and won a partial victory in the Supreme Court of SC in January.
Harrison’s conviction for perjury remained, but the state higher court canceled his corruption conviction because Pascoe overstepped his authority.
Harrison and Wilson’s office argued that Pascoe should focus on two lawmakers mentioned in a written part of an investigation report by the State Law Enforcement Division. Pascoe sought accusations in addition to those cited in the report, including Harrison.
Pascoe returned the remaining cases to Wilson in February. Wilson, for his part, withdrew from any involvement with the defendants and placed Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Young in charge.
It was Young who delivered the probe cases to Barnette in a letter this week.
Barnette’s office will decide whether to proceed with a charge of misconduct against Harrison after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction. Harrison was accused of failing to report that he earned nearly $ 1 million while working for Quinn for 13 years.
Barnette will also recommend any penalties to Courson, who agreed to help prosecutors after pleading guilty to corruption in 2018. 7th Circuit Advitor’s office will also oversee Edge’s corruption and perjury charges, and Quinn’s pending perjury charges, that arose after allegations of illegal lobbying.
Barnette must inform the attorney general’s office if investigators find new charges against the new defendants, Young wrote in his letter. The attorney general’s office will also help pay travel and accommodation expenses.
“I am very grateful that you have taken on this task,” wrote Young at the end of his letter.