Bills target corrupt SC lawmakers, lobbyists who use their posts for profit

Anti-racketeering proposals before the S.C. General Assembly would target corrupt lawmakers and lobbyists who illegally buy and sell influence, supporters said Wednesday.

"This building is rampant with corruption," Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, said at the State House, joined by the anti-racketeering bill's sponsors.

One floor up, in the great lobby that separates the S.C. House and state Senate, dozens of lobbyists, and current and former lawmakers milled about talking shop.

However, Bryant said the S.C. Anti-Racketeering Act would target that business as usual, giving prosecutors a law to use to target conspiracies to buy and sell influence.

The proposed law, introduced as separate House and Senate bills last week, has no chance of passing this year.

If the proposal becomes law, it will need to be accompanied by substantial funding to pay for racketeering investigations, which are expensive — costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, Bryant and state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, acknowledged.

Bryant, who is running for governor as a Republican, specifically cited the ongoing State House corruption investigation, being conducted by state special prosecutor David Pascoe, as the reason he is supporting the anti-racketeering bill.

"There's a godfather running this government, and his name is Richard Quinn," Bryant told reporters, mentioning the GOP political godfather who has been a focal point of Pascoe's investigation. Had the Anti-Racketeering Act been in place, Pascoe's investigation, now in its fourth year, would have gone faster or "would not have taken place," Bryant said.

Quinn, a longtime, Columbia public relations consultant and political strategist, has denied any wrongdoing. However, last year, his public relations firm, Richard Quinn & Associates, entered a guilty plea to failing to register as a lobbyist and paid a $3,000 fine.

Quinn also reportedly testified before the state grand jury recently. His testimony, made in secret, is not publicly known.

At one time, Quinn's firm represented a host of South Carolina's most powerful institutions and GOP politicians — from SCANA to BlueCross to the University of South Carolina to Gov. Henry McMaster to S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Quinn's son, former state Rep. Rick Quinn, R-Lexington, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct in office, resigned his office, paid a $1,000 fine and agreed to do 500 hours of community service. Rick Quinn has said he committed only a technical violation — failing to report income.

In courtroom statements and filings, Pascoe has said the Quinns were at the center of a wide-ranging, hidden, moneymaking scheme to peddle influence at the State House.

Rick Quinn on Wednesday criticized both Bryant and Pascoe.

Bryant, a pharmacist, has voted on issues where he had financial conflicts of interest, said Quinn, adding, "I recused myself 49 times" where he would have had a conflict of interest.

Quinn also noted Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen rejected Pascoe's broad allegations against the Quinns, noting the prosecutor had not proved them at trial.

On June 4, longtime RQ&A client state Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, is scheduled to go on trial on charges of receiving kickbacks from Richard Quinn's firm. Two other former GOP lawmakers, state Reps. Jim Harrison of Columbia and Tracy Edge of Myrtle Beach, also face charges of secretly being on Richard Quinn's payroll while they were lawmakers.

This story was originally published May 2, 2018 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Bills target corrupt SC lawmakers, lobbyists who use their posts for profit."