Yesterday, our news outlet published a widely read post detailing the alleged involvement of a former South Carolina Republican Party (SCGOP) president in the name of the judicial campaign of a left-wing SC district judge.
According to our sources, Spartanburg, editor of SC magazine Karen Floyd said he contacted several lawmakers in Palmetto Upstate and asked them to vote for the SC circuit court judge DeAndrea Benjamin, one of the main candidates for the second highest court in the state.
As noted in our coverage, Benjamin – wife of the über-liberal mayor of Columbia, SC Steve Benjamin – is among the judges at the center of the ongoing legal leniency crisis in the state of Palmetto, in which violent offenders are released on bail, although they represent a clear and present danger to society.
We have repeatedly called for these court decisions … and the lack of transparency that goes with them.
Needless to say, Republican Party lawmakers who claim that Floyd called them about Benjamin’s race were not influenced by his reported openings.
There is, however, a legislator that Floyd should have no trouble convincing …
Who do we refer to? Rita Allison, president of the education committee of the Chamber of SC.
According to documents filed with the SC State Ethics Commission (SCSEC), Allison has been on Floyd’s payroll for several years.
In his declarations of economic interest, Allison informed that he had received income from Palladian Publications LLC – one of Floyd’s companies – in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, she reported receiving revenues from this company, as well as Elysian Investment Group LLC – another company linked to Floyd.
In 2019 and 2020, Allison reported receiving additional revenue from Elysian Investment Group LLC. Your 2021 report – detailing the previous year’s revenue – is due by the end of March.
(Click to view)
(Via: State Ethics Commission of SC)
How much money was Allison paid by Floyd’s companies? We do not know … she left these fields blank in every report.
To be clear: there is nothing unethical about lawmakers making a living out of their legislative positions – although we have argued for most of the past decade that all of these revenue sources must be disclosed.
Including the amounts involved …
Ultimately, however, legislating in the state of Palmetto is part-time work that doesn’t pay very well … which is why lawmakers are always looking for ways to circumvent the system for their own benefit.
The only way to prevent this behavior? Rethinking the system …
To his credit, Allison revealed his business relationships with Floyd’s companies … which is the only way to know about them. As we noted in the past, many lawmakers do not report this income … making it impossible to find out who is filling their pockets.
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This makes it incredibly difficult to trust the decisions that emanate from the SC State Chamber.
Allison is at least operating in the sunlight (partially, at least) … which is commendable.
When it comes to public policy issues, this medium has never been a fan of Allison. We believe that it – like many “Republicans” in the SC General Assembly – is nothing more than a tool of the failed status quo that has held this state for decades.
That said, we have never seen anything to suggest that she was a fundamentally dishonest person. At least not yet.
Result? Our bombastic report on Floyd continues to reverberate through SC State House, with lawmakers commenting on all sorts of rumors of proximity issues involving the former upstate brokerage … which has seen its influence wane in recent years.
We will continue to investigate these issues – as well as their potential impact on what is turning out to be another legislative election of judges marked by scandals in South Carolina (one of only two states that employ this infinitely corruptible method of filling vacancies in the judiciary).
-FITSNews
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Flag: Travis Bell, Columbia SC photographers