Governor Nikki Haley’s EthicsReforms – Style Trumps Substance

Nikki Haley, Public Corruption and Nepotism

Nikki Haley, Public Corruption and NepotismNepotism and Intimidation by Haley?

By Paul Gable

Charges of nepotism and apparent attempts at media intimidation have turned a non-story into a story affecting the administration of Gov. Nikki Haley as well as highlighting why South Carolina ranks as the 45th worst state in the nation in a public corruption study by the Center for Political Integrity.

A little background:

Approximately two weeks ago, we received an e-mail claiming that Gov. Nikki Haley’s 14 year old daughter was working at the State House gift shop and that two workers hours had been cut to accommodate the new employee.

We could not confirm that employee hours had been cut and decided this was not an important story. When a high school age girl, regardless of who she is, wants to get a summer job, we applaud it.

However, various media outlets chose to pursue the story and this is where things got out of control. Statements from Haley administration spokesman Rob Godfrey and comments by SLED chief Mark Keel moved the story into the outer orbit of absurdity.

We regard absurd statements by Godfrey as the norm, no surprise there. As for Keel, he is a good soldier who does what he is told. In the past, we closely studied and wrote about his involvement with the cover-up of evidence in the Southern Holdings case. We understand there is an upcoming deposition shortly by the SLED chief on that involvement.

The State newspaper ran an article recently detailing its experiences with the Haley administration while pursuing the story. Use the link below to read details of what happened when the newspaper tried to determine if employee hours were cut or Gov. Haley used any influence to obtain the job for her daughter. Pay special attention to the spin attempts by the governor, her spokesman and SLED chief and ask yourself why.

http://www.thestate.com/2012/07/25/2368524/governors-daughter-gets-state.html#.UBC5-ol5mc0

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