Massive Influence Peddling Investigated in South Carolina

Charleston Post & Courier: “An investigation into corruption at the Statehouse has taken aim at South Carolina’s command-and-control center – a network of power brokers and lawmakers who, if the allegations are true, milked the system of hundreds of thousands of dollars by skirting the state’s loose ethic laws.”

“The probe… has the potential to challenge the state’s political power structure in ways even deeper than the Lost Trust sting in the 1990s. Though scandalous, the Lost Trust cases targeted lawmakers who could be bought with small amounts of money – lawmakers who held relatively little power in the General Assembly.”

“This one has targeted the state’s top players, most recently, the respected state Sen. John Courson. It involves dollar signs that make Lost Trust look like chump change.”