COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The Latest on an investigation into corruption at the South Carolina Statehouse (all times local):
10:40 a.m.
Rep. Richard Quinn Jr. says a South Carolina judge’s decision to reject his request to kick the prosecutor off his case is just the first step to try to clear his name.
Quinn told reporters after Friday’s hearing that he cleared all the activities of his mail order business with ethics officials and the state attorney general’s office.
The Republican lawmaker is suspended from office after being indicted on charges of misconduct in office. Prosecutors say he used campaign donations for personal profit.
Quinn’s lawyers had asked a judge to remove prosecutor David Pascoe because of documents seized in a March raid that they say included confidential information between Quinn and his attorneys.
Pascoe did not talk to reporters after the hearing.
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10:10 a.m.
A judge says the prosecutor overseeing an investigation into corruption at the South Carolina Statehouse can stay on the case.
Circuit Judge Knox McMahon ruled Friday that Solicitor David Pascoe did not appear to review any documents he was not supposed to from a March raid at political consulting and mailing firms owned by Rep. Rick Quinn Jr. and his father.
McMahon says to remove Pascoe, investigators would have had to do something to shock his conscious and they didn’t. The state agents who searched the office put any documents from or to lawyers into an envelope without reading them closely.
Quinn was later charged with two counts of misconduct in office. Prosecutors say he used campaign donations for personal profit. He’s been suspended. He denies the charges.
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