AP: Governor Sanford Did Not Report Dozens of Private Flights

By: ASSOCIATED PRESS | News Channel 7
Published: August 21, 2009

An Associated Press investigation has found South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford took dozens of flights on private planes that he didn't report despite a state law requiring him to disclose who paid for the travel.
The AP discovered 35 flights Sanford took on private planes that he did not disclose on ethics or campaign reports. The flights are noted on calendars obtained through a public records request.
Sanford's staff says he didn't report the flights because longtime friends or political groups paid for them. But state ethics officials say Sanford must report his use of private planes even if friends pay.
Sanford has come under scrutiny since revealing an affair with an Argentine woman. He already faces a possible inquiry into his use of state aircraft.

The Governor's office had the following to say on the AP's latest story with regard to the Governor's use of airplanes and airplane travel:

"We continue to believe that the AP is selective in their view of the Governor's travel. That has been the case, and based on this press account, it looks like this may continue to be the case. With the flights in question the office believed it was operating in full accord with all state laws. In many instances the governor was using private airplanes rather than the state plane as a way of saving taxpayer money. In other instances he simply, but emphatically, disagrees that flights should be classified as something other than what they were - with 'friends and family.' In still others arranged and paid for by an outside campaign committee or another political candidate, his campaign committee believed disclosure requirements would be met by the committee that had procured the flight.

The Governor continues to believe that as the full story gets out on airplane travel the public will come to see the ways in which his office has used the state plane one third or more less than any of his predecessors over the last twenty years. In the same vein, he used single engine airplane travel rather than expensive jet travel to save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, and did things like selling off a state-owned jet to save taxpayers more than $1 million."