SLED probe of governor's travel records ordered

• By Tony Bartelme, Yvonne Wenger

  The Post and Courier

  S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster on Tuesday asked the state Law Enforcement Division to review Gov. Mark Sanford's travel records after the governor acknowledged meeting his mistress more times than he had previously said.

  Sanford told The Associated Press earlier Tuesday that he met with his mistress three times in New York during the past year, in addition to trips he made to South America last summer and earlier this month.

  Sanford had previously said he had only had three encounters in the past year with the mistress, Maria Belen Chapur. The disclosures spurred new calls for investigations into the governor's travels.

  McMaster, who is running for governor in 2010, had resisted these calls, saying he didn't want to insert politics into the debate. But he changed course this afternoon.

  "In light of the governor's disclosure of additional travel today," McMaster said in a statement, "I have requested that SLED conduct a preliminary review of all Governor Sanford's travel records to determine if any laws have been broken or any state funds misused."

  Sanford released a statement following McMaster's announcement. "We're pleased that SLED will look into this matter," Sanford said.

  "There's been a lot of speculation and innuendo on whether or not public moneys were used to advance my admitted unfaithfulness. To be very clear: no public money was ever used in connection with this. We believe the best way to put those questions to rest once and for all is for SLED to ask these questions, and we plan on cooperating fully."

  McMaster's comments came as more lawmakers called for an investigation into the governor's travels.

  State Rep. Boyd Brown, a Democrat from Winnsboro, asked McMaster to impanel a state grand jury. "Serious legitimate questions remain," he said.

  State Sen. Jake Knotts, a Republican from West Columbia who first raised questions about Sanford's whereabouts, also said he wants a grand jury to determine whether Sanford's actions constitute "misconduct in public office."

  Knotts noted that McMaster last year prosecuted Lenneau Berry, the former mayor of Latta, on such a charge. Berry pleaded guilty last year to misusing town funds. A judge sentenced him to probation and ordered him to pay $2,757.51 in restitution. Sanford ordered Berry be stripped of his mayoral powers.

  In a lengthy and emotional interview with The Associated Press in his Statehouse office, the governor described five meetings with Maria Belen Chapur over the past year, including two romantic, multi-night stays with her in New York before they met there again intending to break up.

  Reach Tony Bartelme at 843-937-5554 or tbartelme@postandcourier.com.