Haley Maintains Innocence, Responds to Accuser

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — A day after Gov. Nikki Haley lashes out at her accuser, members of the South Carolina House Ethics Commitee appeared for a short time Friday morning to announce they would immediately go into exectuvie session to deliberate in the ehtics violations hearing regarding the governor. After multiple witnesses testified Thursday that Haley, a state Representative from Lexington County at the time, did nothing wrong in reference to lobbying special interests or businesses for personal gain, the governor surprised everyone by volunteering to take the stand. She immediately took aim at republican activist, John Rainey, the person who sparked the entire investigation, calling him a ‘racist, sexist bigot’ and accused him of personnaly attacking her and her family. Rainey filed the original complaint against Haley alleging ethical wrongdoing when she was employed at Lexington Medical Center and Wilbur Smith engineering firm. The complaint accuses Haley of using her power and influence as a state legislator to lobby business and solicit donations. The six-member ethics panel dismissed the case last month without a formal hearing. However, it decided to reopen the case recently. Rainey did not take the stand for questioning, even though he was subpoened and sequestered for some 12 hours Thursday. While the hearing is public, not many citizens have actually showed up to witness the proceedings. One resident said state funds ‘have been squandered’ because of the investigation. ‘And I just think it’s very unfortunate.’