Gov. Mark Sanford continued to draw criticism Monday after his latest campaign expense filing with the State Ethics Commission revealed he reimbursed himself for more than $1,800 in expenses.
But Sanford is keeping silent on what exactly those expenses were. The State Ethics Commission's website only lists them under "reimbursement."
The governor's office made no comment on the matter today, referring News Channel 7 instead to the governor's campaign since the matter involved campaign money.
It is illegal under state law for a candidate to spend campaign money for personal use. The law also says a candidate must keep expense receipts for the past 5 years. All of Sanford's expenses for which he reimbursed himself occurred in the past 18 months.
Open records attorney Jay Bender said the receipts the governor is withholding are covered under the state's Freedom of Information Act and should be released to the media and the public.
"The campaign has to maintain receipts for what has been purchased and if that has not been done, it seems to me it's a violation of the law," Bender said.
Common Cause, a government watchdog group is calling on the State Ethics Commission to get involved and request the governor to hand over the receipts.
"Common Cause believes he should disclose what he's being reimbursed for. Otherwise, it's possible that he's being reimbursed for nothing and he's been using the money improperly," John Crangle, state director, said.
Crangle also said that three of the nine commissioners and another's spouse had made contributions to the Sanford campaign and should recuse themselves from any action the commission may take.
The governor himself has yet to comment on the matter and had no public events scheduled for Monday.
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