COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — In surprise testimony before the House Ethics Committee, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Thursday night called the man accusing her of ethics violations a “racist, sexist bigot” for comments he made about terrorism to her during her 2010 gubernatorial bid.
The Republican governor told the six-member committee that Republican activist John Rainey insulted her family when he said during a meeting he didn’t want to back her for governor, only to discover later that she was related to terrorists.
“Mr. Rainey is a racist, sexist bigot who has tried everything in his power to hurt me and my family,” Haley said. “He came in and was demeaning and he was demanding and basically said that he wanted me to prove certain things so that if I took the oath, they wouldn’t find out later that my family was related to terrorists.”
The testimony was part of the panel’s first-ever investigation into a sitting governor. Rainey has alleged that Haley, while serving in the legislature, improperly lobbied while working as a hospital fundraiser and in business development for a highway engineering firm.
Committee Chairman Roland Smith, R-Warrenville, said the panel would reconvene Friday to begin its deliberations.
On Thursday, Haley denied the allegations.
“I know exactly what my frame of mind was … and I want to be able to tell you exactly what happened,” Haley said. “And I want to tell you the truth because I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Haley, whose parents were born in India, discussed the Rainey meeting in a recently published book, writing that she was “sitting there in speechless horror” as Rainey said he could support her only under certain conditions, including seeing tax returns and phone records. When she asked why, she wrote, he explained it would be embarrassing to later find out she’s related to terrorists.
Rainey has said there was a broader context to the 15-minute meeting. Rainey, who convinced former Gov. Mark Sanford to run years ago and later was his Board of Economic Advisors chairman, said he wanted to make sure that the next future governor he backed didn’t wind up in a scandal, as Sanford did when he had an affair.
Rainey didn’t immediately return a phone message Thursday, and one of his attorneys said that he had been sequestered down the hall from the committee meeting all day, having been subpoenaed but not called to testify.
His allegations against Haley originally began in the form of a lawsuit, which was thrown out by a circuit court judge. Rainey, whose chief attorney in the case is Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian, appealed that decision and subsequently filed a parallel complaint with the House Ethics Committee.
The panel initially dismissed the complaint — then voted to reopen the case last month.
Christopher Kenny, who also represents Rainey, said his client had no comment about Haley’s attack.
“Gov. Haley testified that she was offended by their meeting because of his allegedly offensive behavior.,” Kenny said in an email. “Apparently she was so offended, she took time to write a handwritten thank you note.”
Kenny also called Thursday’s hearing “a collusive farce designed to paper over specific allegations evidenced by then-Rep. Haley’s own words.”
“The fix was in on this from the beginning and the House Ethics Committee ought to be ashamed of itself,” Kenny wrote.
During an hour before the panel, Haley said that she knew while working for the highway engineering firm Wilbur Smith Associates about its deal to work on a new State Farmers Market but never worked on that project herself.
“I did not lobby in any way whatsoever for anybody, at any time,” said Haley, who was first elected as a state representative in 2004, and then was re-elected in 2008.
During testimony that went into the night, 10 other witnesses backed up her claim. None said they knew of any lobbying that Haley had done in either of her jobs.
Robert Ferrell, vice president of the company once known as Wilbur Smith Associates, said Haley brought in no new actual business. He told the committee of the instructions given to Haley.
“You are to keep your eyes open, be cognizant of what’s going on around you when you go to social functions, when you go to business functions, and if you hear of opportunities … you let us know,” Ferrell told the committee of the instructions given to Haley. “It was not a proactive, go knock on doors and start looking for work. It was, just be aware of what’s going on.”
Haley, who originally sought a job in the firm’s accounting office, spent about two years with Wilbur Smith. She was compensated $48,000.
Ferrell also testified that Haley wasn’t involved in discussions about Wilbur Smith’s work with the state Department of Agriculture to develop a new State Farmers Market — a project that eventually fell apart and went to another firm. Instead, Haley focused more on developing business in the private sector, a division Ferrell said represents only about 5 percent of Wilbur Smith’s contracts.
In subsequent fundraising work for Lexington Medical Center Foundation, Haley wasn’t asked to try to influence state health department officials who had turned down a request to certify a new open-heart surgery center, the hospital’s president and chief executive testified.
Mike Biediger also said he hired Haley for the $110,000-a-year foundation job after the then-legislator — who also sat on the foundation’s board — approached him about a job after her parents’ clothing business fell on hard times and she needed work.
“She initially proposed that she could be a consultant … and that she could help us raise money,” Biediger said. “It seemed to me that she would make a good employee for the foundation because of her personality.”
As for her fundraising experience, Biediger cited Haley’s ability to raise money for her own political campaigns. An outside firm recommended that Haley be paid more than $145,000 a year, but Biediger said the hospital opted to pay her 75 percent of that because of the time she would need to spend on legislative work.
Attorneys asked Biediger about emails sent by Haley to hospital officials in which she talked about having her “fingers crossed” for key votes related to the heart-center project. But Biediger said the message was not part of a coordinated effort to get either lawmakers or health department officials considering the necessary permits to change their minds.
Haley’s attorney said Rainey’s allegations are plainly wrong.
“He’s misguided, he’s misinformed, and he’s mistaken,” Butch Bowers said. “Just because he says it with conviction doesn’t mean it’s true.”
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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
