Corrupt politician gets off easy? What’s behind the latest conviction in SC probe

So far, a State House public corruption probe has led to misdemeanor convictions for two state lawmakers who resigned from office.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell of Charleston pleaded guilty to corruption and resigned in 2014, and last week, an ex-House majority leader, state House Rep. Jim Merrill of Berkeley, did the same. Both were sentenced to probation, with Harrell also was ordered to pay fines.

Touted as having potential to eclipse the ill-famed Operation Lost Trust, which brought down a 10th of the Legislature in the 1990s, the current ongoing corruption investigation appears – from the outside – to be yielding few results.

Is it that hard to prosecute public corruption in South Carolina?

In one sense, the answer is yes, according to government watchdogs who have long bemoaned weak ethics laws governing public officials that were written by – you guessed it – public officials.

However, another reading of the outcome so far, the watchdogs say, is that special prosecutor David Pascoe is looking to net more – or a much bigger – fish. Both Harrell and Merrill agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

“The public can look at this and say, ‘Well, it’s another person in a position of power getting off easy,’ ” said Jay Bender, a media attorney who sometimes represents The State newspaper.

However, he added, “Merrill and Harrell are offering the prosecutor the key to the door if they fulfill the plea agreement and cooperate.

“You can’t get into the club unless you have a key to the door.”

‘Not out of the woods yet’

Merrill left court Friday with a year of probation but skirting prosecution on 29 additional corruption charges.

He pleaded guilty to one count of official misconduct tied to his repeated failure, while a lawmaker, to report personal income from entities that lobby state government. He also voted on legislation that benefited a client and failed to notify the speaker.

Pascoe said he found no evidence Merrill took a bribe. He also said Merrill, a communications consultant, did legitimate work for his clients.

Pascoe agreed to drop Merrill’s additional charges in exchange for the lawmaker’s cooperation with state and federal investigators, including taking lie detector tests and testifying. Harrell agreed to similar terms three years ago.

Still, Merrill is “not out of the woods yet,” said John Crangle with the citizen watchdog group S.C. Progressive Network.

Pascoe left the door open to proceed with prosecution of the additional charges, including felonies, if evidence surfaces Merrill accepted bribes or kickbacks for actions taken while a legislator, or if Merrill fails to cooperate with investigators.

‘Disrupting ... backroom influence’

Still unresolved in Pascoe’s probe are indictments against two other state lawmakers.

State Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, is accused of funneling campaign cash to himself through Richard Quinn & Associates, a political consulting firm that also has landed in Pascoe’s crosshairs.

State Rep. Rick Quinn, R-Lexington, is charged with two counts of official misconduct tied to his time as majority leader. Like Merrill, Quinn is accused of using his office for personal financial gain and failing to report income earned from entities that lobby state lawmakers. That income flowed through RQ&A and other businesses, according to Quinn’s indictments. RQ&A is run by Rick Quinn’s father, Richard Quinn, whose stable of clients include some of the most powerful businesses and lawmakers in the state.

Courson and Quinn have been suspended from office and both are fighting the charges.

The elder Quinn has not been charged with any wrongdoing. But his office was raided by investigators, who also are looking at businesses known to have hired the firm.

“Clearly the Quinn network is a big part of what he’s working on,” said Lynn Teague, with the League of Women Voters, of Pascoe’s probe. “Disrupting that network of backroom influence is probably close to the center of his goals here.

“That’s a big message in itself.”

‘Expose all of the corruption’

So what comes next?

The state grand jury, which takes testimony, considers evidence and issues indictments, has continued to meet, interviewing powerful politicos and business leaders, including S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s chief of staff, Trey Walker.

Walker said after he testified that neither he nor the governor – who recently distanced himself from Richard Quinn, his longtime political consultant – are targets in the probe.

And Merrill, who Pascoe said already has provided information to investigators, “has potential to be an extremely important witness,” Teague said. “He was in the middle of things and in a position to know what everybody was doing.”

All signs point to more indictments, Crangle, Bender and Teague agreed.

“Pascoe’s top priority is to expose all of the corruption in state government as much as can be exposed,” Crangle said.

And if nothing more comes of the probe?

The message will be a loud one.

“If we get to the end of this and absolutely nobody has any serious charges filed, that will be an invitation to abuse among our public officials,” Teague said.

The convictions from Pascoe’s probe so far, she noted, haven’t matched the seriousness of crimes alleged.

“Yes, it does look like, ‘Good grief, it just came down to almost nothing,’ ” she said.

“On the other hand, he’s taken out a speaker. He’s taken out an ex-majority leader. And in a state where the Legislature is so much more powerful than any branch of government, that’s pretty big.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2017 at 10:57 PM with the headline "Corrupt politician gets off easy? What’s behind the latest conviction in SC probe."