Latest news from South Carolina on Nikkigate:
Columbia, SC (WLTX) - FITSNews.com blogger Will Folks has released his cell phone records in an attempt to prove that he had a relationship with Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley.
Folks gave WLTX almost 1,000 pages of phone records. The calls were made from several phones he uses, and were recorded in 2007, 2009, and 2010. They show the outgoing and incoming phone numbers.
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There is a phone number that comes up which News19 called, and the voicemail said it was Nikki Haley. That same phone number is associated with her several times online.
Most of the calls in Will Folks's records with that phone number range from 1 to 5 minutes. There are several over an hour, and a couple that are longer than 150 minutes.
Folks notes on his blog how a large quantity of the calls took place at night:
But what’s raising eyebrows across the state isn’t necessarily the number of phone calls (although more than 700 calls seems like an awfully high number given Haley’s recent claim that she “barely knew” Folks), it is the time – and the length – of dozens of late night calls.
This does not prove that an affair took place, nor does it contradict Haley's categorical denial. One could say that it is rather disturbing to find a married woman carrying on at midnight with a single male whom, at the time, was not a colleague. Folks left Governor Mark Sanford's office in 2005. While first saying she would address the matter in next week's debate, the Haley campaign certainly isn't helping itself with this strategy:
"On this issue, with this tactic going on, I will not spend anytime, energy or focus on it whatsoever, it's not worth my time of the people of this state or the campaign, I will not give it time whatsoever," Haley said.
She has, however, bought time for "pro-family," "grace of god" political ads featuring Sarah Palin. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney joined Sarah Palin by putting his character judging skills on the line for Haley, saying "I stand four square by Nikki Haley." Anonymous witnesses are beginning to trickle in. There is a compromising photograph rumored as well, apparently snapped by a private investigator several years ago.
Again, someone is lying.
While the Democrats probably don't stand much of chance picking up this statehouse seat, it is certainly interesting to watch national Republicans attach their names to what could turn out to be a ticking time bomb. The brutal South Carolina 2012 primary politics are in the mix, and who sits in the Governors chair will matter in determining who becomes the Republican nominee. Notably quiet: Jim DeMint.
Stay tuned, Sarah. You too, Mitt.