Free Republic

Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who left office in disgrace after a highly publicized affair with his Argentine mistress, has joined the Fox News Channel as a paid contributor. Sanford famously told staffers and the press that he was “hiking the Appalachian trial” in June 2009 when he was in fact visiting his mistress, Maria Belen Chapur, in Argentina.

Sanford is being asked the hard questions by Sean Hannity now on Fox. I don't think he's made any progress in his emotional maturity. He wants to talk about economics. Is he looking for a job or testing the waters for another run for office?

As Tea-Party Movement Clamors for Limited Government, Sanford Leaves StageCOLUMBIA, S.C.—Last year, Gov. Mark Sanford chose love over politics. An affair with an Argentine woman buried his immediate prospects for higher office, but the two-term Republican governor said in an interview this week he was content. He is divorced, enjoying high approval ratings and ready to embark on a private life when his second term ends in four months. Mr. Sanford's longtime message of limited government is catching fire with voters across the U.S. But the former presidential prospect is now on the sidelines. "I've had friends say, 'You were...

Primary season is all but over. The 2010 candidate field is nearly set. The strongest and most vulnerable members of both parties know who they are. But the campaign didn’t have to look like this. It’s not just the big-picture inflection points — like the White House’s decision to pursue health care reform or the congressional GOP’s lock-step vote against the stimulus — that have determined the course of the election year. It was also the personal choices or screw-ups of individual candidates. As Labor Day launches the traditional start of the fall general election campaign, here’s POLITICO’s look back...

It's a notorious night for men behaving badly. Unofficially, Feb. 13 is also known as "Mistress Day," the day that straying boyfriends and husbands set aside for the "other woman" - since they're spending the actual Valentine's Day with their girlfriends and wives. "It might not be a nationally celebrated day, but it's at least a day to practice your 'mistress retention' skills," says Noel Biderman, president of AshleyMadison.com, which sets up extramarital trysts for "when monogamy becomes monotony" and boasts 2 million registered members.

Gov. Mark Sanford was back in the national headlines Thursday after CNN spotted him on Capitol Hill. And a day after making a final apology for his conduct, it looks as if the governor was turning the page. Sanford, a former congressman, was in Washington, D.C., on official business. But he took some time to go see old friends on the hill. According to media reports, Sanford spent some time with U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who ran for president in 2008 and its credited with helping start the so-called Tea Party movement. Sanford's political career has been...

CHARLESTON, S.C. – South Carolina's first lady, a former Wall Street vice president who helped launch her husband's political career, filed for divorce Friday more than five months after his tearful public confession of an affair with an Argentine woman. "This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family," Jenny Sanford said in a statement. The divorce complaint was filed in Charleston County Family Court. In a statement, the governor blamed himself and said he and Jenny will "work earnestly to be the best mom...

Sanford’s Wife Files for Divorce ROBBIE BROWN December 11, 2009 Jenny Sanford on Friday filed for divorce from her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who confessed in June to an affair with a woman in Argentina. “As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process,” Ms. Sanford said in a statement. “Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal with our difficulties than do other couples. Indeed, I know it will soon become known, so I choose to release this brief...

ATLANTA — Jenny Sanford announced on Friday that she is filing for divorce from her husband, Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, who confessed in June to an affair with a woman in Argentina. “As so many of us know, the dissolution of any marriage is a sad and painful process,” Ms. Sanford said in a statement. “Because Mark and I are public figures, we have naturally had less privacy with which to deal with our difficulties than do other couples. Indeed, I know it will soon become known, so I choose to release this brief notice that I am...

Jenny Sanford announced today that she will file for divorce from embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who admitted in June to an affair with a longtime lover in Argentina. "I am now filing for divorce," she said in a statement. "This came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation, yet I am still dedicated to keeping the process that lies ahead peaceful for our family." Sanford moved out of the South Carolina governor's mansion with the couple's four children in August. "I remain thankful to so many across this state and nation for their words of encouragement and prayers during...

A South Carolina House panel voted down a resolution Wednesday to impeach Gov. Mark Sanford, but the embattled Republican faces one more procedural hurdle before his survival in office is guaranteed. In their final meeting to consider the impeachment resolution, members of the special House subcommittee called Sanford's behavior "reprehensible," "arrogant" and "indefensible" - but six of the seven lawmakers on the panel concluded that the Republican's behavior does not rise to the constitutional level of impeachment. Sanford has been under scrutiny since June, when he left the country for five days to visit his Argentine mistress without informing his...

South Carolina's First Lady Tells Barbara Walters About Decision Not to Stand Next to Husband Gov. Mark Sanford During Press Conference Jenny Sanford, wife of embattled South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, told Barbara Walters in her first television interview about her husband's affair that she wouldn't have stood by his side when he publicly admitted the affair even if he had asked her to. Sanford, who has moved out of the South Carolina governor's mansion with the couple's four children, openly discussed the heartbreak behind the headlines of their breakup.

37 ethics charges dropped on Sanford By: Andy Barr November 23, 2009 04:01 PM EST Gov. Mark Sanford could face 37 charges that he violated South Carolina ethics law if the state attorney general decides to proceed, according to a report by the state’s Ethics Commission. The report, released Monday, accuses the two-term Republican governor of having used state money to purchase business-class airline tickets to travel in Europe, South America and Asia. Four of the flights include his 2008 trip to Brazil that the governor extended in order to travel in Argentina to see his mistress. Additionally, Sanford is...

The S.C. Ethics Commission has charged Gov. Mark Sanford with 37 counts of breaking state ethics laws. The commission filed its charges last week but only released them Monday. Those charges allege that, in 18 instances, Sanford authorized, approved or allowed the purchase of business-class airfare so that he could travel to and within the continents of Europe, Asia and South America. Four of the flights cited involved a 2008 state Commerce Department trip to Brazil that Sanford extended to Argentina so that the married, two-term Republican governor could see his Argentine lover. State law bars the use of high-priced...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's use of state planes for personal and political trips could open him and the state to federal tax penalties because the flights never were recorded as taxable fringe benefits. Tax experts who reviewed an Associated Press analysis of more than 100 flights since 2003 said numerous trips could have triggered Internal Revenue Service rules that require adding the value of flights to the governor's wages, making them subject to taxes. The analysis shows nine flights since 2008 alone could be worth $19,019 in taxable benefits."The state appears to take the position that...

SNIPPET: “Throughout the day the Prime Minister’s Office, when asked about Netanyahu’s whereabouts, said only that he was on a tour. After hours of speculation, and numerous inquiring phone calls, the PMO finally released the following laconic statement Monday evening: “The Prime Minister’s military attaché reports that the prime minister is visiting a security installation inside Israel.” Netanyahu was accompanied to the installation by National Security Adviser Uzi Arad and the military attaché, Meir Kalifi.”

The increasingly nasty fight between South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer escalated further this week with charges from a legislative ally of Bauer that Sanford and his supporters are spreading malicious rumors that Bauer — a Republican like Sanford — is gay. GOP state Sen. Jake Knotts made the charge in a letter to state legislators Wednesday that was obtained by POLITICO. In an interview in June with The State newspaper, Bauer voluntarily brought up the subject of his sexual orientation. Asked if he was gay, he responded: “One word, two letters. No.” But the rumor...

(CNN) – An outspoken critic of Mark Sanford is accusing the embattled South Carolina governor of orchestrating a smear campaign against Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer. Republican State Sen. Jake Knotts wrote to fellow members of the state legislature on Wednesday accusing Sanford and his allies of spreading rumors that Bauer is gay — a claim that was reported earlier this week by a blogger who seeks to out closeted conservative politicians. "As a former target of a false rumor started by the Sanford Camp I can tell you with absolute certainty this attack was orchestrated on behalf of Mark Sanford,...

From CNN's Political Ticker: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says that the state Ethics Commission probe into his travel expenses reminds him of the flood of ethics complaints filed against Sarah Palin before she resigned the Alaska governorship. "I think I now know what Sarah may have been feeling," Sanford told The Washington Times in an interview published Wednesday.No, Gov. Sanford, you don't have any idea what Sarah Palin may have been feeling, and neither does anyone else. But wait until they photoshop devil's heads on a photo of your youngest child and spread it around the internet, along with...

South Carolina Republican lawmakers are on the verge of calling a special legislative session that could impeach and remove embattled GOP Gov. Mark Sanford by the end of the year, The Washington Times has learned. GOP lawmakers will use a regularly scheduled annual retreat this weekend to discuss the fate of the governor, whose extramarital affair with an Argentine woman sparked an international scandal earlier this summer. Mr. Sanford has rejected calls to step down voluntarily, included one issued Wednesday by his own Republican lieutenant governor. House Republicans in the state will discuss how and when to initiate impeachment proceedings...