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A conservative blogger claiming he had an “inappropriate relationship”
with Nikki Haley has thrown a spanner into her campaign for the Republican
nomination for governor of South Carolina.
Haley, 38, a Tea Party favorite who has been endorsed by Sarah Palin,
has denounced the allegation as a politically motivated smear: “I have been 100
percent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage. This claim
against me is categorically and totally false. It is quite simply South Carolina
politics at its worst.”
Will Folks, founder of FITSNews, a conservative South Carolina
blogsite, claims the relationship occurred in 2007 when he was a communications
consultant for her campaign. Folks, who professes to support Haley, says he
went public because several media organizations were preparing to expose the
relationship. “The truth in this case is what it is. Several years ago, prior
to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki,” he
wrote on his blog.
Since then Folks has released several email exchanges with Haley’s
campaign manager Tim Pearson documenting their attempts to suppress the story.
He also released nearly 1,000 pages of phone call records that document nearly
700 telephone calls with Haley, including several long late night calls.
FITSNews reported, “What’s raising eyebrows across the state isn’t necessarily
the number of phone calls (although more than 700 calls seems like an awfully
high number given Haley’s recent claim that she “barely knew” Folks), it is the
time — and the length — of dozens of late night calls.”
Folks has provided no direct evidence of the affair, although he claims
more proof will be forthcoming |
