South Carolina Republicans to Discuss Impeaching Mark Sanford

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 3:41 PM on August 25, 2009.

 South Carolina state house Republicans are meeting this weekend to discuss “what it would take to force the Republican governor out and how the process would work.” Ever since acknowledging his extramarital affair with an Argentine woman, Gov. Mark Sanford has been under fire for possibly violating state law by flying in expensive business-class seats. Sanford has thus far refused to resign from office, forcing state Republicans to consider alternative means:

House Speaker Pro Tempore Harry Cato of Travelers Rest said he expects impeachment to “dominate” discussion at this weekend’s annual House GOP Caucus retreat in Myrtle Beach. […]

“I think just because of the general nature of how this outing always works, it’s usually dominated by one or two issues and I think impeachment will be the dominant issue,” he said.

 “He left the state without anyone knowing where he was,” state Rep. Greg Delleney said, adding, “That was a dereliction of duty as far as I was concerned.” The state Constitution allows officials to be impeached for “serious crimes or serious misconduct in office.”

Tagged as: impeachment, gop, south carolina, sanford

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.