State Ethics Commission Opens Investigation Into AG Alan Wilson
$25k of Campaign Funds Allegedly Used for a William Brice Stadium Birthday Party?
The State Ethics Commission has opened an investigation into South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson amid allegations that Wilson used $25,000 of campaign funds to finance his 50th birthday party at Williams Brice Stadium.
The complaint was filed by researcher Lee Granade of Hilton Head Island, SC. In a 16-page document that Lee sent to the SC State Ethics Commission, she alleges that Wilson’s campaign account received a $25,000 “donation” from LJA Rail in 2023 that “grossly exceeded” campaign donation limits. Lee states that this money appeared to have been washed through his account by “refunding” the money to a “SC Conservative Action Fund” which does not seem to exist according to the SC Secretary of State’s office or other authorities. Granade notes, “This purported “refund” was later sent to a bogus generic address, on a weekend, on the last day of the report period: September 30, 2023.”
On page 2, Granade considers the possibility that this money may have intended to be a “pay to play” payment, similar to the large sums of money GOP consultant Richard Quinn would receive from potential and current SC elected officials. “This seems particularly likely since the receipt of this check was concomitant with Governor Henry McMaster and Wilson’s offices actions as “intervenors” in South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA), and the State of South Carolina v. National Labor Relations Board. While Wilson’s (voluntary) intervention in this federal case may have benefited LJA Rail, it certainly benefited Bill Stern (board member of SCSPA), a generous benefactor of AG Wilson.”
Who is Bill Stern?
To learn more about Bill Stern, here is a snippet from a previous article entitled WHO is Pushing for SC Health Czar? that I wrote in 2024:
Bill Stern is a lifelong resident of Columbia, SC and is the chairman of Stern Development, a commercial real estate development company. Stern serves as a member of the AIPAC National Council which is a pro-Israel PAC that funds several key political leaders, including US Congressman Joe Wilson. Stern has been involved with the encouraging FL Governor Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024. He has also served on several Holocaust boards and received a Distinguished Service Award by the Columbia Jewish Federation. He is also the chair of McMaster’s dark money non-profit, The McMaster Leadership Fund. Bill Stern has given generous amounts of money to several key establishment members and leaders across South Carolina and seems to have multiple close relationships with elected leaders across the state. Let’s take a look:
Stern owns numerous LLCs that all donate multiple times to the same candidates. In 2018, Stern used at least ten separate LLCs located at the same location (BB&T building off of Two Notch Road) to donate to Henry McMaster during McMaster’s run for SC Governor. These donations totaled $73,500. Two of these LLCs were recorded by the SC Secretary of State to have dissolved in 2007 and 2013. Yet, they are listed as having donated to Henry McMaster in 2017 and 2018. For a more thorough rundown, listen to this video from Evan Mulch:
There are countless perks we could review that Stern seems to receive from SC government and its elected officials. However, for the purposes of this article, we are going to highlight the most obvious. Remember how we mentioned that Stern is a commercial developer? In 2022, Stern landed contracts for both the SC Department of Education and Department of Natural Resources. Well, the SC legislature has decided to go into contract with Bill Stern again, this time to move health related agencies named in the Health Czar bill from the currently government-owned buildings to buildings leased from Stern. The contract is being finalized through the 2024-2025 budget and would pay Stern around $500 million in a 30-year lease. In this lease, South Carolina agrees to pay all the maintenance fees and related costs. Did I mention that South Carolina approved this move before Stern even finalized his purchase of the building SC is going to rent? That’s right, South Carolina is going to rent everything and own nothing. The WEF dream.
The SC legislature ended up passing the 2024-2025 budget and did pay Stern around $500 million in a 30-year lease. During this past legislative session, the General Assembly passed S.2, a bill that furthers Stern’s agenda. S.2 was sold to South Carolinians as “consolidating” agencies, however, it just merges six agencies into three without cutting any jobs or any funding. But, it gives the legislature a great excuse for signing a 30-year lease and moving all the health agencies into Stern’s building. For a better understanding of S.2 (which all Republicans—except for Senators Corbin and Martin—voted for), read this article from Conversatruth.
AG Alan Wilson’s Campaign Responds
According to a FITSNews article, Alan Wilson’s campaign states that the complaint is “frivolous.” A representative of Wilson’s campaign, Kurt Pickhardt, stated, “We’ve been in touch with the ethics commission and expect this to be resolved quickly.”
According to Pickhardt, the campaign used the word ‘event’ instead of ‘fundraiser’ on a financial disclosure. Apparently one check went to the wrong bank that resulted in a deposit error, however, Pickhardt states the error has been corrected.
I encourage you to take a good look at Granade’s 16 page report and into this SC Conservative Action Fund. Does this look like an error to you, or something more?
My concern is that their real purpose is to go after Freedom Caucus members. They pretend to be going after Wilson to give them more credibility. Every thing they do is fake. Wilson is not fit for any elected office.