Sources: Horry County, SC President’s Questionable Campaign Loan Investigation Focus

If there is one thing we can count on coming out of Horry County, South Carolina, it is a constant stream of corruption, incompetence, malfeasance, mismanagement, anti-competitiveness and irritating global governance.

Seriously … self-taught or incompetent. Choose your poison.

It is a daily game of or / or when it comes to the “corrupt coast” of Palmetto State.

“South Carolina is one of the most corrupt states in America, and one of its most corrupt regions is the Grand Strand – a once popular tourist destination and home to all kinds of habitual local government theft,” our founding editor Will Folks observed in a column posted last January.

Last month, however, Horry employees outdone themselves in terms of selfish behavior when they allowed some 2,500 county bureaucrats (and their chosen “nominees”) to get in line and receive Covid-19 vaccines before the general public.

Unbelievable, right?

Again … Not really. Not in Horry County.

This week, sources on the coast tell us the president of the county council in trouble. Johnny Gardner – who took office in 2018 amid allegations of an extortion plan against local “economic development” officials – is facing a new set of ethical problems.

Gardner managed to avoid (ahem) criminal charges related to the economic development fiasco, but he has since been criticized for failing to make statements of economic interest during his tenure – among other things.

As we noted at the time, Gardner’s failure to file these routine disclosure statements was of particular concern because of his campaign’s reliance on dubious loans from its former business – the law firm Johnny Gardner. At the last count, Gardner still owed an estimate $ 80,000 about these controversial loans, which he claims were made legally during the 2018 election cycle.

But were they legitimate loans? Or did the law firm serve as a gateway to hide the real origin of the money?

(Click to view)

(Via: Facebook)

According to our sources, Gardner (above) will have a chance to defend the loans before the SC State Ethics Commission (SCSEC) – which is reportedly moving forward with an investigation into its true origin (among other problems reported with Gardner’s campaign funding disclosures).

We do not yet know who filed the ethics complaint against Gardner. We also do not know whether the investigation goes beyond loans.

Sources familiar with the case have told us that a hearing is in the process of being scheduled related to the matter, however.

Will anything come out of this investigation?

Doubtful. Given the absolute failure of this agency in recent years to refer any cases to the office of the Attorney General of SC Alan Wilson for criminal prosecution … our suspicion is that Gardner is about to enter into an extended negotiation with the state over an appropriate amount for a fine.

Which is sadly predictable …

In other words, a government agency that does nothing but give slaps on the wrist is about to socialize a portion of the allegedly illicit gains from Gardner’s campaign.

Does that sound like a fair solution to this scandal?

To be clear: the founding editor of this medium has absolutely zero faith in SCSEC’s ability to hold any government official accountable in Palmetto State … for anything.

After all, this entity is a toothless watchdog in its best days. On your worst day? It is a facilitator of the kind of financial cheating that would make a mafia boss blush.

“(SCSEC) has little real authority when it comes to enforcing campaign finance laws in the state of Palmetto – and has shown itself to be unable or unwilling to exercise the limited power it has,” we noted last year.

And legislative ethics scandals? The way they are treated is an even bigger joke … sort of like the state’s own ethics laws.

How to fix this? Duh … Pass tough laws. And then insist that elected officials who step out of line face the real consequences of their bad behavior. Not “consequences in name only”.

In any case, we will keep our readers up to date on the latest developments in the Gardner case as soon as we can obtain more information about the complaint filed against him.

Stay tuned …

-FITSNews

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