Mark Sanford to Pay $74k in Ethics Fines

South Carolina Governor Doesn't Admit Guilt in Settling Allegations That He Broke 37 Laws During Affair

(AP)  Updated at 4:20 p.m. ET

Gov. Mark Sanford has agreed to pay $74,000 in fines to resolve dozens of charges that he violated state ethics laws with his campaign spending and travel, including a taxpayer-funded rendezvous with his Argentine mistress, the State Ethics Commission said Thursday.

The commission brought the 37 civil charges against the Republican last year. Sanford, who is term-limited and will leave office in January, still could face criminal charges.

Scrutiny of Sanford's travel started over the summer, when the then-married governor vanished for five days after telling some staff he was going hiking on the Appalachian Trail. He was actually in Argentina, and he returned to tearfully confess a yearlong affair with a woman he later told The Associated Press was his soul mate.

Sanford was considered a potential 2012 presidential candidate until the bombshells about the affair, which also cost him his marriage. Ensuing AP investigations questioned his use of state, commercial and private airplanes and bruised his image as a penny-pinching politician who once required staff to use both sides of Post-it notes.

After those investigations, the ethics panel charged him with improperly buying first- and business-class airline tickets, violating a state law requiring lowest-cost travel; improperly using state-owned aircraft for travel to political and personal events, including a stop at a discount hair salon; and improperly reimbursing himself with campaign cash.

Among the mistakes the commission alleged were:

• approving the purchase of four first- and business-class commercial airline tickets for a June 2008 trip during which he met with his mistress in Argentina.

• personal use of state-owned aircraft for trips such as the birthday party of a campaign contributor in Aiken.

• reimbursing himself nearly $3,000 using campaign contributions, including about $900 for expenses to attend a Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami and a hunting trip in Dublin several days later.

Some of the allegations about Sanford's use of campaign funds first were revealed by The State newspaper in Columbia.

Under the agreement, Sanford also agrees to compensate the Ethics Commission nearly $36,498 for its investigative costs. He also agrees to pay back:

• $18,000 to the state Departments of Commerce for first- and business-class airfare;

• $7,792 to the Division of Aeronautics and $1,003 for personal use of state-owned aircraft.

In addition, Sanford says he will pay $2,941 to his own campaign account as a reimbursement for personal use of campaign funds.

More on Sanford's Scandal

Mark Sanford Divorce Request Granted
Jenny Sanford: My Pain Was "Excruciating"
Mark Sanford Gets Rebuked for Secret Trips
Mark Sanford Faces 37 Ethics Charges
Mark Sanford Wants to Report New Trips

The governor's signature on the consent agreement means he does not admit to violating state ethics laws but does not dispute the accusations either. It's a departure from statements his lawyers made when the charges were brought, downplaying them as "technical questions" about his conduct.

A month later, lawmakers said they believed the accusations were not serious enough to warrant impeachment and instead censured him, a reprimand that had no practical effect.

In a statement, Sanford reiterated that he feels he did not break ethics laws and thanked the commission for its work.

Sanford's divorce from Jenny Sanford became final Thursday afternoon. She recently completed a book tour promoting her memoir about their relationship.

[stn_sage]

OH-H-H-H! LOVELY!
We hear that the man didn't do anything WRONG! BUT...
They have THIRTY-SEVEN violations they can prove against him,
so what does he do?
He agrees to pay $74,000 dollars in fines...for all these things
he didn't do wrong...and shazam!...it's settled, he's 'off the hook'!

I say, 'B.S.'! It's NOT settled! If white collar crooks are let go
like this, then open the 'g.d.' doors and let everyone out!
Because the 'double standard' legal system, has got to stop!

This scumbag...Sanford...should be rotting in prison for many years
to come! And doesn't deserve to see the 'g.d.' light of day!

[rwsmith29456]

We challenge any other politicians caught in such ethics violations to pay the money back, also.

[kenhamlett]

I sure hope they offset the fine for what they will gain by using Jenny's book as a diversion while they stacked the courts with scum. Hell, they even managed to corrupt the last court in the state that was semi clean all while you were reading about -ahem- conjugal diversity.

[dwilson59]

If your left or right Men are very weak. Just ask Tiger

[pete_in_az]

at least he found his soul mate. some people never do. or some crazy line he uttered like that.

[dynamited777]

THE GOP POSTER BOY OF FAMILY VALUES!

[hateisafourletterword]

Yep. Right up there with Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, John Edwards, and John Ensign.

You see it matters not the party. It matters the person. Leave the party out of it. The list of idiots is mighty long and from both sides of the political spectrum.

And if you believe everything you hear, I have sympathy for you.

[USA_is_back]

hateisafourletterword - I think the idea of this post was the hypocrisy. Kennedy and Clinton NEVER ran on family values and being "holier than thou" like most Repubs do. You do have a good point with Edwards though, he did.

[meboard]

Pay up you bum...I'm waiting for my check!