South Carolina governor embroiled in fresh controversy.
By American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: It’s turning out to be a really bad week for Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina: she got labeled a ‘clown,’ in a list of the worst governors in America, released by an organization based here – she was listed in the 10th spot – and now comes news that she’s been fined $3500 and given a ‘public warning’ by the State Ethics Commission for failing to report the addresses of eight donors during her 2010 campaign for governor.
WBTW News 13 reported that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW), based in Washington, DC, listed Haley amongst the worst governors in America. The list was brushed aside by her office as being the handiwork of a left leaning organization, prone to bashing Republican Governors.
According to CREW, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is the worst governor in America, with Republican counterpart North Carolina’s Pat McCrory listed as 12th-worst. Haley’s office does have a point though. Sixteen of the 18 governors on the list are Republicans, with Kentucky’s Gov. Steven Beshear and New York’s Andrew Cuomo the only Democrats. Beshear ranks 7th-worst, Cuomo 14th.
Haley is listed as a “clown”, a designation given by CREW to the governors who are ranked 7th through 12th. The top six have been termed “ringmasters”, while the group of governors listed from 13th through 18th are termed “sideshows.”
According to CREW, Haley has been chosen as one of the worst governors because of several reasons, “an investigation into her private-sector work while a member of the state legislature; pay-to-play appointments; accepting free trips on the private planes of donors, appointees, and people with business before the state; flouting of transparency standards; misuse of federal funds; and advocating for new voter identification restrictions.”
According to WBTV, CREW was co-founded by Norman Eisen, a law school classmate of President Barack Obama’s who worked on his presidential campaign and later in his administration. The current executive director of CREW, co-founder Melanie Sloan, previously worked for Democrats John Conyers, Charles Schumer and Joe Biden.
Haley’s spokesman, Rob Godfrey, issued a statement rubbishing CREW’s allegations: “These are recycled old charges, many of which have been dismissed. Nikki Haley led the successful fight for on-the-record voting, so laws are no longer made in secret in our state, and she is leading the fight for the toughest ethics reforms in state history. Senate Democrats are doing everything they can to block those ethics reforms, but Governor Haley will prevail for the good of our state.”
Haley however cannot brush aside the more serious matter of being fined $3,500 by the State Ethics Commission, who also warned her for failing to report the addresses of eight donors during her 2010 campaign for governor, The State newspaper reported.
“The 2010 campaign made its best effort to report all the required information from the more than 7,000 donors who contributed,” Haley’s campaign manager Tim Pearson was quoted as saying by the State.
The ethics investigation arose out a complaint filed two years ago by Bridgett Tripp, a former Democratic Party staffer now employed by state Sens. Vincent Sheheen and Creighton Coleman. He accused Haley of misreporting $1.3 million in contributions, said the report.
The CREW report had also accused Haley of cronyism, alleging that 26 of the 59 people that she appointed to state boards or commissions were donors to her campaign. It also alleged that Haley replaced six of the seven members of the Department of Health and Environmental Control board, with four of the six being campaign contributors.