Wilson: No comment on Pascoe fuss until S.C. Supreme Court rules

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said Monday that he won’t comment further on his conflict with special prosecutor David Pascoe until the state Supreme Court settles their dispute.

Wilson addressed the issue – one of the state’s most talked about legal and political topics these days – in answer to a question after his speech to members of the Columbia Sertoma Club. on topics such as Internet child predators and human trafficking.

“When the Supreme Court rules, I’ll be happy to answer any more questions that you have about that – that’s the appropriate time,” Wilson said. “I have sufficient evidence and sufficient facts... I can explain everything to everybody. But I’ll give the court a chance to do their job.”

Wilson fired Pascoe five weeks ago as the prosecutor appointed to investigate corruption in the General Assembly.

The step came after Wilson stepped aside for a then unspecified conflict of interest.

Pascoe, along with State Law Enforcement Division chief Mark Keel, sought to activate a State Grand Jury as they moved into the final stages of the investigation.

But Wilson’s office asserted that Pascoe lacked legal authority to do that, leading Pascoe to ask the top state court to decide if he could do so.

Then Wilson fired Pascoe and tried to turn over supervision of the investigation to 5th Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson of Columbia. Johnson has refused to take the post until the court settles the conflict.

The State newspaper revealed that two people mentioned in a confidential SLED report are political allies of Wilson. No one has brought any charges.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Wilson: No comment on Pascoe fuss until S.C. Supreme Court rules."