Will now SWEARS it’s true. For what that’s worth

As an old-time newspaperman, I still don’t know what to do with junk like this. In the old days it wouldn’t have been out there. But now it is. I mean, The Associated Press? It doesn’t any more MSM than that.

So what do we make of it? I leave that to y’all:

By SEANNA ADCOX – Associated Press Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The political blogger who claims he had a physical relationship with married Republican South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley offered new details in a sworn statement released Tuesday.

In an affidavit to a group of Republican activists critical of Haley, Will Folks states he had “romantic encounters” with the state representative in her Cadillac SUV, his apartment and her Statehouse office. He said the physical relationship ended in June 2007, when he began dating the woman who is now his wife.

“Rep. Haley specifically requested that I notify her in the event this relationship was getting serious so that she could ‘back off,'” the statement reads.

Haley’s campaign again denied all of Folks’ claims, which were made without any proof.

“There is something about the days just before an election that make certain people want to get back in the newspapers,” said Haley campaign manager Tim Pearson. “These accusations weren’t true in June, they aren’t true now, and those who continue to be fixated on this nonsense really should look into getting some professional help.”

Folks, 36, provided the three-page affidavit to the two-week-old group calling itself Conservatives for Truth in Politics, which is questioning Haley on various issues. It was sworn before a South Carolina notary public and signed by both but is not filed in any court…

Personally, I don’t think it changes any minds one way or the other. Do you?

20 thoughts on “Will now SWEARS it’s true. For what that’s worth

  1. Phillip

    Again, without proof, if anything it works to her advantage, garners her sympathy votes and makes her seem more like the outsider who the “politics-as-usual” crowd is trying to take down.

    It ended up working that way for her when it surfaced late in the primary season. I’m still not convinced that it’s not some weird tactic Will Folks is using to actually help her. Curious that it surfaces again now just as the first real independent poll (Winthrop) and some other polls show the race tightening.

  2. bud

    Does Folks have some motive for lying about this? Could he just be a complete ass with a vendeta? If it did happen would it affect Haley’s campaign and/or marriage if she just fessed up? Why doesn’t Folks offer some proof beyond the simple accusation? Does such proof exist?

    None of this will affect my vote but it sure would be nice to know the truth. If Folks is just plain lying then I would at least have a bit of respect for Ms. Haley. If he’s telling the truth then all respect I may have had would be completely shot. I’m inclined to believe Folks but until something concrete is provided I’ll simply keep an open mind. This one is really bizarre.

  3. Doug Ross

    The wording Folks uses appears to be specifically unclear enough to hint one thing but possibly mean something completely different.

    I mean, if he was there, he knows what happened, right? Playing coy appears to be more about driving web traffic without getting sued.

  4. bud

    Phillip, this “wierd tactic” theory sounds intriguing but my world view tends to reject complex solutions when a perfectly reasonable simple solution exists. I think Folks is probably telling the truth, perhaps to clear his conscience. Perhaps because he knows her and doesn’t trust her as governor.

    Whatever the reason I’m not sure anyone could foresee an accusation of an affair as producing a poll bounce. That would seem un-necessary given her solid lead in the polls.

  5. Brad

    It was also unnecessary for Nixon’s “plumbers” to break into Democratic HQ.

    I think Will’s found a way to have his cake, eat it, and then eat it again: He gets to draw attention to himself in a scandalous manner, demonstrating his “independence” and disregard for the reputations of others. He helps Nikki get elected by renewing the indignation of her followers, who imagine all criticism of their gal as coming from “liberals” even when it isn’t — and the more salacious, the greater the emotional reaction, galvanizing them in their determination to vote for her, and banishing any apathy that may have crept in since the primary. And he builds traffic on his blog. Cake. Eat it. Eat it again.

    If you’re a Haley supporter, even one as unconventional as Will, you have to be worrying, just a bit, that the angry legions prepared to vote for Nikki just MIGHT be calming down enough to THINK about the fact that she is in no way what she purports to be, that on the contrary, she is someone who leverages her insider political status for personal advantage (with Wilbur Smith and as a fundraiser for the hospital) and is adamantly opposed to being transparent.

    This gets the emotions pumping, and banishes thought…

  6. Doug Ross

    @brad

    So if Haley ends up winning by the same percentage that Sanford won by (twice) how does that relate to your theory that the voters are just responding to emotion versus thought?

    You’re over-thinking this – trying to come up with an excuse for Sheheen when he loses rather than address the seriously weak campaign he has run. This should have been a lock for a Democrat following Sanford’s personal failings, the anti-incumbent mood of the country, the lousy economy under a Republican legislature. And yet he has yet to even hit 45% in any poll with less than three weeks to go.

    It would be nice to blame stupid, emotional voters blindly following the Palinator. But the results will be the same as pretty much every election (save Hodges) for the past two decades.

    Sheheen loses because Sheheen didn’t make the case to win. That’s it.

  7. bud

    I’m just not buying this theory. For one thing the Haley zealots are not going to support her any more stridently because Folks spouts off about this alleged affair. And for those who are either soft supporters or undecideds, would they be MORE likely to vote for Haley given these allegations? I can’t imagine why.

    Maybe Folks is that much of a schemer but what about Marchant? He is also going to sign an affadavit regarding his affair with Haley. I’m leaning toward this all being true. We’ll probably never know for sure.

  8. Ralph Hightower

    It looks like Will Folks has been telling the truth after all. It also appears that Folks has been using this to draw traffic to his website, because it works; I’ve read numerous articles on FitsNews.

    I don’t know what Folks’ motive is, but to me, it looks like he’s anti-Nikki now, with articles on her tax problems and now what appears to be Lexington Medical Foundation’s termination of Haley as opposed to an amicable “parting of ways”.

    This is the link to Will Folks’ affidavit from the WIS-TV provided link: http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wistv/pdf/FolksAffidavit.pdf The affidavit was notarized.

    I do know that Nikki Haley drives a white Cadillac Escalade SUV because I saw the SC legislature tag “87” (her district) zipping in and out of traffic on Highway 378 onto Corley Mill Road and then to Andrew Corley Road. And the answer is “NO!” I have not been in the back seat or even in her Cadillac SUV.

    It does appear that Nikki Haley has the same “Bill Clinton problem” that SC Governot Mark Sanford has, a problem with zippers.

  9. KP

    Y’all are overthinking. Will is doing this because he loves the attention, he wants the blog traffic, and he doesn’t care what effect it has on the election. There are many things to dislike about him, but you’ll never convince me that he’s a liar.

  10. Abba

    An affidavit is more than a mere statement. Affidavits are sworn statements and generally accepted in court as evidence, or “proof,” of a particular fact or set of facts. Signing an affidavit containing false statements is perjury. This ups the ante.

  11. Brad

    It does indeed, Abba, although if Orwell were around he’d probably slap us for using such an expression as “ups the ante.” Or maybe not. It IS evocative.

    But while you and I know it raises the stakes — certainly the potential consequences of lying (or is that only if it is accepted into evidence in court?) — does it change the political equation? Are Haley supporters and potential Haley supporters likely to be impressed by such lawyerly considerations, or are they apt to be the sort who just get ticked off at those of us who use phrases such as “in loco parentis,” and want to vote for Nikki just because those whom they perceive as intellectually pretentious oppose her?

  12. Kathryn Fenner

    Winthrop U has a recent survey that says Vincent’s supporters are more committed to him than Haley’s are to her. Does this change things?

  13. bud

    Politically speaking unless Folks can prove he’s telling the truth or Haley admits to it I don’t think it changes the dynamic of the campaign one way or the other. I’ve always thought she’d win by 10 points and still believe that is what will happen.

  14. Doug Ross

    @Kathryn

    That same Winthrop poll had Sheheen at 37%, 9 points down to Haley. He needs 50.0001% of committed supporters. Long way to go and not much time to get there. Maybe he’s waiting on the “Brad Show” bump.

  15. Kathryn Fenner

    Strangely, we seem to expect a very solid trail of evidence from a clandestine affair. Would we not be more suspicious if suddenly there was all this direct evidence?

  16. Doug Ross

    @kathryn

    Evidence? You mean like one of the parties who was involved stating specifically what happened, when, and where?

    All Folks has to do is say the words: “I had sex with Nikki Haley on _____ at _____”. Then let it go from there. He hasn’t done that yet as far as I know.

  17. frank

    What about this:

    As Editor of VUI, I will note something that have so far hesitated to mention. I knew the rumors. I was actually out in the bars in Columbia back in 2007 and saw Folks and Haley together. I thought she was divorced and that they were dating. I had no idea that she was still married when I told one so called RINO legislator that I thought Folks was dating Haley from what I saw with my own eyes one night. The remark I gave was along the line of ” I think he’s dating her, no wonder he supports her on his blog.”

    And, I guess that is what bugs me most about Nikki Haley. People saw things. I saw things. To just make like those times did not happen is an insult to people with eyes and brains.
    —About Me
    Richard B. McCarty
    I have worked on campaigns of conservatives at the local, county and statewide level. I have learned a lot along the way. I have seen the best and worst of South Carolina politics and I offer my take on it all here. I also try to make people laugh. (Of course this blog is for entertainment purposes only. Nutcases should relax.) If you got a beef with VUI, comment or email me at rbmccarty@gmail.com

    http://www.votingundertheinfluence.blogspot.com/

  18. bud

    Frank’s comment offers some pretty compelling circumstantial evidence that Folk’s accusation has merit. Can we move this (Haley/Folks affair) from the “possible” category to “likely”.

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