Sanford To Reimburse State For Trip To Argentina

In a statement, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said that he would reimburse the state for a trip to Argentina on which he met with his mistress.

"As noted by the Department of Commerce, I attended a trade mission with the Department of Commerce last June. As the agenda notes, the mission was spent meeting with government and private business officials in both Brazil and Argentina. This trip was handled very professionally by the Department of Commerce, and I'm proud of their work there.

"However, while the purpose of this trip was an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with. That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip," Gov. Sanford said.

According to documents released by the state Department of Commerce on Thursday, the state paid $8,644.03 in airfare alone for the trip -- more than $9,000 altogether.

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Comments

[Luca]

OK. I guess a clarification is in order. This was an apparently failed attempt at a joke here. I mean, what else can happen in this Republican circus that will be shocking that has NOT already happened.

[SurrealPumpkin]

Wait a week and we'll probably find out.

[munki]

We have different standards.­.. Mr. Sanford set a standard in public... was not kept by himself...

Thank you for being honesty... Everyone in this blog are not perfect, but... this is Public damage control as well as Private... sometimes.­.. we need is a real

Damage control...

[cindersgirl]

Ultimately, infidelity is not party specific. What burns me is the holier-than-thou attitude of right-wingers like Newt, Larry, and the whole gang who feel they are the moral authority of the world. Do as I say, not as I do. I am not of any specific faith, yet I don't pull the crap these guys do. So don't hold your phony morals over all of our heads like a sword of Damocles, especially prior to elections, when it suits you.
Truly, for those who believe, you are the ones who are going to hell. Do not pass Go directly to hell.

[bleeplander]

Think about it, Clinton was convicted for lying about getting a b j in the oval office, while Bush's presidency was all about f ing over the world.

[theubermensch]

Sanford was one of the one's leading Clinton's impeachment trial.

[cindersgirl]

Bleeplander, I totally agree. One of my favorite lines when someone asks me why I haven't had a colonoscopy is that I feel like I've been getting f'd in the rear for 8 years already!

[bleeplander]

* i mean Clinton was impeached, it only felt like he got convicted.

[NoWMDs]

HYPOCRITE. He'll probably become a born again so he can put his sins behind him and justify in his mind that he's really a good person. If he's already born again, can he be born again-again? Or does one get only one shot at re-birth?

[TovSquirrel]

Pity he cannot reimburse the State for his hypocrisy.

[Luca]

Can he use PayPal???

[DreamEmbraced]

...or perhaps some of the Stim Funds he rejected?

[KriTiKiT]

yeah he is going to give away his family's money (the money for his wife and kids) to fund a trip to to get do his other lady. that is sad. Monogamous gay people support (in spirit) his wife and kids, he violated the institution of marriage. He is now going to steal from his family to fund his adulteress tendency. just like other so called christian politico's. this man is a looser. he should be made to work it off South Carolina style, 5 bucks a hour on a road crew. he need to learn his lesson. he broke the law, he broke his family and he is a hypocrite and should be made a example of.

[VSamuels]

The perfect storm would be for a lower level state employee to have been caught for mis-appropriating and or stealing this same amount, and being dealt with in a more direct and serious manner, who challenges their punishment. Ultimately, it will take a Supreme Court level discussion of the double standards by these politicians who openly use and abuse their offices, yet continue to receive either salaries or pensions, once they have quit.

But, the bottomline is that the GOP represents liars and hypocrites as they do not live up to the values they push for others to live.

[vippy]

To every politician having an affair - Please, resign before the press finds out. That would be the honorable thing to do and show character. We surely don't need leaders who cry on TV, especially once they condemned someone else over the very same thing and then come to find out they
stole from the tax payers. To pay it back later when caught does not change that you stole our money!

[mssreader]

Politicians all think they can get by with it until they get caught and then think they can lie or sob their way out of it. Just shows how stupid they are. And here are Edwards and Spitzer thinking they can make a comeback, that the public has short memories and here is Newt, one of the lowest of them all along with McC doing just fine and smiling away. Seems strange to hear the silence from rushie.

[MIKEBC]

Watch how repubs wont say much about Sanford, yet they have no problem injecting themselves into our bedrooms and like we cant do anything without "their" permission!

[NoPretenses]

You decide to become a public official and I am sure in the early years it was for noble reasons. You seek the support of family and the opinions of those you respect. Perhaps you even consider the sacrifices your wife will need to make to boost your career. She will have to rear the children when you are away, maybe her own goals and ambitions will take a back seat to yours. The love and support of loved ones manifests itself in your confident deportment. The hard work and sacrifices start to pay off. This plays well to outsiders. You rise to high office. Then what happened? Did the ladies start to admire your success your confidence your power? Did you start to believe it was all of your making and that you deserved a more "exotic" outlet?

She was there when you started small and rose to prominence. You forgot her. You forgot the good people who put you there. Worst of all you forgot being noble.

[OkieMon]

cut this guy loose....n­o no no....keep him around as a poster child of what rebublicanism is really all about.....­.

[Merckx]

He needs to resign, finish the divorce with wife, strengthen the relationship with his kids and marry Maria.
His political career is over. Slow down, smell the roses and enjoy the love of his life.
Things can't get worse for him. Only better.

[tjc27]

And wait for the results of the pending investigations, criminal trial and civil litigation.

[liberalbug]

These guys are only ever contrite, as is true with every cheater, when they get caught.

[mathme]

HEy wait a sec. He's only reimbursing because he was caught. What about all of the petty criminals who were swept up by 3-strikes and locked up for "200 years to life" (one of whom "conned" someone out of less than 3 dollars), do they have the opportunity to repay the small, small costs of their crimes? He's conned the state out of thousands.

[dutchman]

Some people are more equal than others.

[swanie]

C'mon, he went there FOR ONE REASON - he was thinking with the wrong head ! !
.

[whiskeytangofoxtrot451]

And it's because the right head is obviously non-functional that he needs to resign.

[jrutle]

Sanford's conduct has shamed his office and he needs to resign.

[lovbug]

his wife is working on the marriage, after all that humiliation. He obviously don't want his wife anymore if he risked his career to be with that other woman. She's just another stepford wife. Why stay with someone just to help his career? Sounds like he will be faking the husband role to save face - Not worth it! I have no respect for women who remain in these forced relationships, that's abusive and degrading. You can't make someone love you just because. Have some dignity leave him in his misery.

[mclarek]

Love and Marriage..­very complex. Make the Bundys look good! She has all the $$$$, that's why he'll stay, if he does stay. Something tells me Jenny won't tolerate his "faking" it.