S.C. gov asks court to keep probe secret

COLUMBIA, S.C., Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Republican South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford asked the state Supreme Court to keep an ethics report away from state lawmakers, who could remove him from office.

Sanford, who vowed to fight "tooth and nail" any effort to remove him from office, argues the report could be used for political purposes by lawmakers and could compromise his defense.

Only prosecution bodies should have access to the State Ethics Commission's report, Sanford says.

The preliminary report is similar to an indictment and does not contain the governor's full defense.

The nine-member commission maintains the lower South Carolina House of Representatives would become a prosecutor if it opens impeachment proceedings against Sanford and is therefore entitled to the report.

Sanford has been under scrutiny since returning from a secret five-day trip to Buenos Aires in June and admitting to an extramarital affair with a woman who lives there.

His lawyer says Sanford wants the court to force the commission to keep its investigation secret until after it decides if Sanford broke laws by using state planes for personal and political purposes.

State Rep. Greg Delleney, a Republican, says an impeachment resolution does not need the ethics commission report.

"Impeachment is not a legal proceeding; impeachment is a political proceeding," The (Columbia) State quoted him as saying.

"There's not anyone in the private sector or military that would keep their job" if they did what Sanford did, Delleney says.