Nancy Mace can't be sued for accusations made on the House floor — here's why

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace accused four men, including her ex-fiancé, of “some of the most heinous crimes against women imaginable” during a nearly hour-long prepared speech Monday night on the House floor.

The 1st District congresswoman said she discovered thousands of photos taken with hidden cameras as well as recordings the “predators” made of themselves sexual assaulting women over years. She was among the victims. Some were underage girls, she said.

“None of you will get away with it,” said Mace, who has represented the Lowcountry since 2020. “None of you will because tonight is about justice for all of the women that you all raped, that you all filmed, that you all photographed, that you all abused for years.”

All four men strongly denied the allegations to The Post and Courier after the speech.

“I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name,” her ex-fiancé, Patrick Bryant of Charleston, told the newspaper.

The two broke up in late 2023, which would be after Mace said she found the evidence.

The State Law Enforcement Division confirmed after her speech that Bryant is being investigated for assault, harassment and voyeurism.

The investigation started Dec. 14, 2023, after SLED was contacted by U.S. Capitol Police. Multiple interviews and search warrants have happened since. A “well-documented case file” will eventually be available. But the “complex” case is ongoing and involves multiple lawyers, SLED said in a statement.

Once the investigation is complete, the file will be sent to a prosecutor for review, it concluded.

The statement did not name any of the other three men Mace called out in her speech.

One reached by the Gazette said he will “fight this in a court of law.”

“I unequivocally deny all the allegations made against me which are baseless, repugnant and defamatory,” Eric Bowman responded in a text.

‘This monster stole my body’

Mace’s speech started with a declaration that she was going “scorched earth.”

Mace said she first discovered the crimes after confronting Bryant about a text she received. He initially put his phone in a safe but later gave her the combination.

She looked through his phone and saw a woman unconscious being sexually assaulted. She also found photos of a teenager undressed “in the kind of underwear a child would wear.”

Mace then said she saw another video of a slender woman with long brown hair. The woman was unaware she was being filmed, Mace said.

She turned up the volume and heard her own voice. The congresswoman zoomed in on the video. There was no denying it was her.

“My entire body was paralyzed, and I couldn’t move,” an emotional Mace said. “Were my feet on the floor? Was I breathing? I had no idea. I could feel pain shooting out of my heart, out of my chest.”

“This monster stole my body. It felt like I had been raped,” she said.

It happened in 2022, she said, while she and Bryant were at a function on the Isle of Palms. She had two vodka sodas and blacked out, something she said had never happened before.

“My memories of that night are like flashes in and out of dark, flashes in and out of the night,” she said. “I was raped that night.” Mace said she could not be sure if it was Bryant who did it.

On one camera alone, she said, she found 10,633 videos, plus numerous photos of adult women and about a dozen photos of underage girls.

“I found file after file,” she said, adding that it seemed most were unaware of what was happening.

The night before she left Bryant in November 2023, ending a 19-month engagement, Mace said she was physically assaulted by him. She added she still has a mark to this day from it.

“Rather than see this mark as a scar, I see this mark of a free woman, free from a monster,” Mace said.

Mace mentioned her Christian faith throughout her speech. She also mentioned how the daughter of Ethel Lance, a 70-year-old victim of the 2015 Mother Emmanuel shooting, forgave the killer.

“I don’t want to forgive. I don’t want to, but I know that as a woman of faith, I have to,” Mace said.

Throughout her speech, the phone number of a hotline for victims was displayed on a poster beside her. Mace encouraged any victims of the men to call (843) 212-7048.

Attorney general accusations

Mace also accused Attorney General Alan Wilson, an expected foe in the 2026 governor’s race, of not addressing the crimes against her and other women — which he called “categorically false.”

Nancy Mace yet to announce bid for SC governor, but jabs at potential opponents

During her speech, Mace stood next to a poster of Wilson that read “Do Nothing Attorney General,” a moniker she has routinely used to describe him.

Mace said she turned evidence of her findings over to the attorney general, who failed to take any action with it and at one point refused further evidence.

But Wilson said neither he nor anyone in his office had any knowledge of the accusations until her speech. His office has not received any reports or requests for assistance from any law enforcement agency or prosecutor’s office, his office said in a statement released shortly after the speech.

Beyond that, it is not the attorney general’s job to start a police investigation, the statement noted.

“Ms. Mace either does not understand or is purposefully mischaracterizing the role of the attorney general” as the state’s chief prosecutor, it said.

As for her claim that Wilson refused to receive evidence, his office said, “the attorney general would always direct any citizen to provide evidence of a crime to the appropriate law enforcement agency, which would be responsible for the investigation.”

The lengthy statement also pointed out that Wilson and Mace have been at multiple events together over the past six months and that Mace has Wilson’s personal cellphone number.

“Not once has she approached or reached out to him regarding any of her concerns,” it read.

Mace has made stops around the state in recent weeks as she contemplates a gubernatorial bid. Gov. Henry McMaster is ineligible to run again, creating wide-open field.

So far, only former reality TV star and state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel has announced a run for governor, which he did on X last week.

But Mace, Wilson and Lt. Gov. Pam Evette are the three most expected to run. Mace has been highly critical of both Wilson and Evette on social media.

Transgender controversies

Mace has also been making headlines for recent comments surrounding transgender people.

She introduced legislation in November seeking to ensure that people on federal property had to use the bathroom associated with their birth sex after Delaware elected Sarah McBride, an openly trans woman to the Senate.

Mace also used insensitive language towards trans people during a House Oversight Committee hearing Feb. 6. The day before, she received a personal shoutout from President Donald Trump when he signed an executive order prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in female sports.

During her speech on the House floor, Mace touted multiple pieces of legislation she introduced to protect women. This includes the Prison Rape Prevention Act, which requires prisoners to be housed based on their biological sex. She said she introduced the bill “so a woman can’t be raped by a man who thinks he’s a woman.”

She doubled down on her critics.

“I’ll take all of the arrows and all of the attacks, if it means I’m taking these attacks for each and every one of you,” Mace said. “I’m doing this today because we can’t delay justice. Justice victims like myself need to move forward.”

Mace cannot be sued for her accusations. The Speech or Debate Clause protects members of Congress from lawsuits for what is said on the floor.

SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com.