A Columbia attorney filed a formal disciplinary complaint against SC Attorney General Alan Wilson on Tuesday, alleging that the Lexington Republican knowingly supported a “false and frivolous” lawsuit that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In the four-page lawsuit, attorney Chris Kenney claims that Wilson and 16 other Republican attorney generals fanned the flame of insurrection, setting the stage for last week’s deadly uprising at the US Capitol, when they cast doubt on the integrity of the presidential election 2020 won by Democrat Joe Biden.
“What is clear is that this attack on Congress was prompted by the executive (President Donald Trump) with the help and comfort of many like Mr. Wilson, who repeated and lent the credibility of his office to the false claim that the presidential election Trump was stolen, ”wrote Kenney, who works at Sen. Dick Harpootlian’s law firm, D-Columbia.
In a statement sent via email, Wilson’s spokesman Robert Kittle wrote: “This is pure party politics. We will not comment further.”
Kenney lodged his complaint with the SC Disciplinary Board Office, which investigates some 1,400 complaints of misconduct against lawyers and judges each year. The agency’s investigations and findings are normally protected from public view.
He filed the complaint while Wilson sought to distance himself from the violence on the Capitol last week. The request came a day after Wilson’s former aide, Adam Piper, resigned as executive director of the Association of Republican Attorneys General amid revelations that the group sent a robocall encouraging “patriots” to march on Capitol Hill and require Congress to revoke the election results.
Wilson, who sits on the RAGA leadership council, has repeatedly said that the RAGA team sent the automatic call without his knowledge or consent.
The protest in Washington, DC, turned into chaos last Wednesday, when hundreds of Trump supporters attacked the police as they stormed the U.S. Capitol building, sending Congress into blockade. The crowd delayed certification of the results of the presidential election.
John Freeman, professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina School of Law, read Kenney’s complaint and said it appears to have merit. Lawyers, and especially the top law enforcement officer in South Carolina, must have evidence and evidence to support the serious claims they make in lawsuits, Freeman said.
“You cannot open frivolous lawsuits,” said Freeman. “You can’t use the courts just to go out and try to hurt someone or make a political argument. You have to have legal facts, evidence. You have to have the legal right to be there, not just because it’s good or you want to score points with your base. “
The Kenney lawsuit notes that, in recent days, Wilson has acknowledged that Biden is the legitimate winner of the 2020 election and that he is unaware of any evidence presented in court to substantiate allegations of electoral fraud.
But just a month ago, Wilson made a request on December 9 that encouraged the United States Supreme Court to consider a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general who contested the election results in four major battle states won by Biden, he wrote Kenney.
“Sir. Wilson now admits that there is no evidence of what he asked the US Supreme Court to find and keep just a month ago,” wrote Kenney. “This amounts to a confession that he violated his obligations as a member of the order and demands punishment, especially in light of the damage it helped to cause. ”
The Supreme Court voted 9-0 to reject the Texas lawsuit, which sought to invalidate votes in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Still, Wilson using his official position to raise doubts about the integrity of the 2020 elections “was reckless and undemocratic with disastrous consequences,” wrote Kenney.
Thereafter, the Disciplinary Board Office will decide whether to reject Kenney’s complaint or investigate further. The agency often applies discipline in the form of private warnings or reprimands. There is little guarantee that the firm’s findings will be made public.
Reach Avery Wilks at 803-374-3115. Follow him on Twitter at @AveryGWilks.