State Rep. Nelson Hardwick, R-Horry, resigned Tuesday evening in the middle of his sixth term after an investigation by the House Speaker’s office, which now appears to have become part of a criminal probe.
Hardwick was accused to sexually harassing a female House staff member, according to four lawmakers who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
A criminal investigation into a lawmaker has begun after the House Speaker’s office sent information to the S.C. Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General’s office turned over the information SLED for a preliminary investigation, spokesmen for both agencies said on Wednesday. They declined further comment.
The nature of the House’s investigation into Hardwick was not disclosed by an attorney for the House Speaker’s office. Documents will be released Thursday.
Hardwick said, in a statement, he resigned "to focus on my health." A South Carolina scandal blog (so right-wing it labels Hardwick a "Republican") added this snark:
UPDATE IV: Money quote from S.C. State House source regarding Hardwick resigning over alleged inappropriate advances toward women: “If house members had to resign for that we wouldn’t have any left.”
Text messages obtained by The Star reveal a sexually charged relationship between House Speaker John Diehl and a college freshman in a Missouri Capitol internship program that shut down abruptly last month.
The conversations unveil a flirty rapport and suggest an intimacy between arguably the state’s most influential lawmaker and a young woman taking some pleasure in a secret association.
The texts show occasional efforts by Diehl and the intern to meet in person. They range from mundane chatter, about boring meetings and dreading speeches, to the more sexually suggestive.
Diehl initially declined to comment. But about six hours after the story was posted online Wednesday morning, he issued a statement admitting the relationship.
“I take full responsibility for my actions and am truly sorry to those I let down,” Diehl’s statement said. “I apologize for the poor judgment I displayed that put me and those closest to me in this situation. I also regret that the woman has been dragged into this situation. The buck stops here. I ask for forgiveness. I will begin immediately working to restore the trust of those closest to me, and getting back to the important work that is required in the final days of session.”
LUBBOCK, Texas — An apparent stripper in Oklahoma has filed for a protective order against a Texas Republican state senator who likened what he called America’s “spiritual battle” to the Holocaust.
The clerk in Creek County, Oklahoma, confirmed Tuesday that a request for an order had been issued against Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock, Texas.The clerk said the document couldn’t be released since it hadn’t yet been served.
But the woman seeking the protective order posted a photo of it on Twitter, where she describes herself as dancer at a gentlemen’s club.
Perry’s office in Austin didn’t return messages. His Tulsa-based attorney wouldn’t comment.
While being sworn in to the Senate in September, Perry alluded to the Holocaust while suggesting the U.S. government perpetuates “laws that lead citizens away from God.”
ST. ALBANS – A Vermont state senator has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of sexual assault and three misdemeanors of prohibited acts, the charges arising from what police describe as a sex-for-rent scheme involving several unwilling tenants.
Prosecutors allege Sen. Norman H. McAllister, R-Franklin, over a period of several years sexually assaulted two women who were his tenants and employees, and that he attempted to solicit a third woman. That woman called police this week, launching a fast-moving investigation that by Friday was reverberating throughout the state capital of Montpelier.
The allegations, explained in sometimes graphic detail in court papers, shocked the governor and McAllister's Statehouse colleagues, several of whom witnessed his arrest outside the Capitol on Thursday evening.
McAllister, 63, of Highgate was arraigned shortly after 11 a.m. Friday in Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans. He was charged with three counts of sexual assault and three of prohibited acts. The charges carry a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
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