Timeline of absence
Gov Sanford = adulterer
Gov Sanford takes staff off the hook
Gov Sanford’s written mea culpa
June 24, 2009
I’ve heard of new math but it appears they teach new geography down in South Carolina because the Appalachian Trail seems to extend down to Argentina.
According to TheState.com’s GINA SMITH, SC Gov Mark Sanford has reappeared and it (the most recent version of the truth) appears he “wanted to do something exotic” to “get out of the bubble” and that “it was a long session and I needed a break” so he went to Buenos Aires, which he described as a “great city”. A place he has visited two other times – the most recent 18 months ago on a commerce trip.
He returned via Atlanta where he was greeted only by SC media. When asked why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, he initially said he didn’t know and then said “in fairness to his staff” that he told them that’s where he might go.
He didn’t detail anything other than he drove along the coastline and that he was alone. He said he wasn’t planning on returning….until tomorrow – but after talking to his chief of staff, Scott English, he decided to return a day early because of the media uproar. That he doesn’t know “how this thing got blown out of proportion”.
No mention of the fact that his wife, according to CNN, had no idea where he was as of yesterday.
JENNY SANFORD: I am being a mom today. I have not heard from my husband. I am taking care of my children.
His Lt Gov Andre Bauer spoke with CNN yesterday saying he was concerned about Sanford’s safety and that he had a duty to the people and the state to make his whereabouts known. Bauer hadn’t known Sanford was gone until Sunday. Even though they are both Rep – they were not elected together and evidently are not pals and Bauer is looking to run for governor.
Finally last night (Mon, 22) I told his chief-of-staff I want to talk to the governor. And he said, ‘When I talk to him I will let him know of your concerns. They called this morning and said the governor will be back to work tomorrow. He will cut his vacation short and will be back tomorrow, but have not relayed details since.
MON 22nd JOEL SAWYER GOV Sanford spokesman:
Joel Sawyer apologized “for taking so long to send this update,” explaining that he “was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the Trail he was on before we did so.”
As we said earlier today, it isn’t unusual for the governor to be out of pocket for several days after the legislative session. We knew he would be difficult to reach, and that he would be checking in infrequently. Given the media attention this has generated, we’ll obviously update you once we have some more specifics to pass along.
Non-ally Republican State Sen JAKE KNOTTS:
I found out that he was taking frequent trips at odd times of the night in a SLED car with no security. He would be driving. I got wind that he had taken another one of these types of capers last Thursday, and that nobody knew who he was with.
TUESDAY 23rd JOEL SAWYER:
Governor Sanford called to check in with his Chief of Staff this morning. It would be fair to say the governor was somewhat taken aback by all of the interest this trip has gotten.
Given the circumstances and the attention this has garnered, the governor communicated to us that he plans on returning to the office tomorrow.
CNN also ran a story about finding Sanford’s vehicle at a SC airport where it preseumably had been parked. Don’t these security vehicles have GPS trackers? So either the gov’s security people are completely clueless or they all knew what was going on and were trying to keep it quiet.
John Heilemann on Morning Joe:
There’s no bigger fan than me of the exotic experience but when the words “exotic” and “Buenos Aires” are put together that tends to involve topless women.
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