Stuffed Suits - SC Senator Jake Knotts Censured by Lex. Co. GOP--AGAIN!

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SC Senator Jake Knotts Censured by Lex. Co. GOP--AGAIN!

Posted by Working Tommy C | 06 June 2011

SC Senator Jake Knotts was belatedly censured Monday night (June 6, 2011) by the Lexington County GOP for his campaign finance law violations. Knotts was publicly reprimanded by the SC Senate late last year and a censure resolution was prepared by members of the Lexington County Republican Party shortly afterwards but the matter was delayed until after this year's reorganization at the request of Chairman Rich Bolen. Knotts was also censured by the Lexington County Republican Party in 2010 for his racist remarks towards then gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and President Obama.

The censure was resisted by the usual suspects--members of the "Old Guard"--some of whom made the bizarre argument that the party organization was trying Knotts with no evidence. When it was pointed out by Chairman Rich Bolen that the public reprimand had already passed the Senate Ethics Committee, the same people then claimed that Knotts had already been punished and therefore no censure was necessary. Grasping at straws seemed to be the fad for them Monday evening. The majority, however, thought that silence by the county organization on the matter would imply approval or, at the least, a nonchalant attitude towards crimes that would have put a common citizen in jail for a few years.

Although claiming to be no big fan of Jake Knotts at the May party meeting, the Lexington GOP Treasurer, Jim Wellman, voted against the censure. That was no big surprise.

It was also no surprise that longtime paid political operative and "Star Trek" fan, Mike Green of West Columbia who is, we're repeatedly told, employed by Starboard Communications, led the charge to defend his hero, Jake Knotts. (Jake Knotts may or may not be paying him to do so--we don't have the records yet of any money changing hands so we're not making any claims here). Mike Green is notorious for robotically repeating the same phrases over and over again, complete with glazed over eyes, when attempting to make a point--especially when it comes to defending Jake Knotts:

"BUT DON'T YOU THINK THAT SINCE JAKE KNOTTS HAS BEEN CENSURED ONCE ALREADY THAT THE BEST WAY TO PUNISH HIM IS AT THE POLLS?"

"No, he should be censured by the party every time he does something wrong--especially when it is illegal."

"BUT DON'T YOU THINK THAT SINCE JAKE KNOTTS HAS BEEN CENSURED ONCE ALREADY THAT THE BEST WAY TO PUNISH HIM IS AT THE POLLS?"

Apparently Mike Green has an inability to grasp the fact that a conversation has evolved and left him back in the primordial sludge. Although Green's motion to table the censure of Rich Bolen at a special meeting two weeks ago was successful, his attempts to repeat that success were soundly defeated this time around:

"A Resolution of Censure"

Whereas, South Carolina State Senator Jake M. Knotts was found to have committed the following violations of laws regulating the handling and use of campaign funds as detailed in the Public Reprimand of September 1, 2010 entitled, "The Matter of the South Carolina Senate Ethics Committee's Complaint Against Senator John M. Knotts, Jr:"

1. "Senator Knotts accepted and deposited into his campaign checking account campaign contributions from individuals and entities that were in excess of the statutory limit."

2. Senator Knotts knowingly falsified legally required documentation in that he "reported on his Campaign disclosure Reports certain campaign contributions in a manner that was inconsistent with the actual name of the contributor and the actual amount of the contribution."

3. Senator Knotts knowingly falsified legally required documentation in that he " . . . failed to report on his Campaign Disclosure Reports numerous contributions from individuals and entities."

4. " . . . Senator Knotts made cash withdrawals from his campaign checking account and failed to report these withdrawals and the subsequent expenditure of these funds on his Campaign Disclosure Reports.

5. " . . . Senator Knotts earned interest on his campaign's certificate of deposit accounts and failed to report such interest as a contribution."

6. " . . . Senator Knotts held campaign funds in a certificate of deposit accounts with his spouse in the capacity of joint tenants with a right of survivorship."

7. " . . . Senator Knotts failed to report on his Campaign Disclosure Reports various campaign loans and campaign loan repayments."

8. Senator Knotts failed to properly report many other expenses and contributions; and

Whereas, after a hearing on August 9, 2010 " . . . the Committee deliberated and concluded that, based on competent and substantial evidence presented at the hearing, Senator Knotts committed each of the alleged violations . . . and issue[d] a public reprimand;" and

Whereas, citizens of the State of South Carolina not holding office in the South Carolina General Assembly would be and are routinely more severely punished for crimes of a similar nature, especially for knowingly committing multiple fraudulent acts when filling out legally required documentation; and

Whereas, being a state that was one of the original thirteen states that formed the republic known as the United States of America and which was formed on the basis of the concept of "equality under the law" as documented in the Declaration of Independence in that "all men are created equal" and multiple other writings by the Founders;

Be it resolved by the Lexington County Republican Party Executive Committee that:

1. The public reprimand and the corrective actions set forth by the South Carolina Senate Committee for the many fraudulent and illegal actions of South Carolina State Senator Jake M. Knotts are grossly inadequate and that Senator Knotts should have been expelled from the South Carolina State Senate as a matter of course due to his multiple counts of malfeasance.

2. The South Carolina House and Senate Ethics Committees are called upon by the Lexington County Republican Party Executive Committee to investigate and audit each member of the General Assembly to determine if further gross and criminally fraudulent acts have been committed on a routine basis such as that behavior documented above committed by Senator Jake M. Knotts.

3. The South Carolina General Assembly is called upon by the Lexington County Republican Party Executive Committee to change state law so that individual members of that body can no longer be protected from criminal prosecution as could be pursued by the courts of this state if a citizen of South Carolina, who does not hold office in that body, were to have committed similar fraudulent acts in violation of the law involving legally required documentation and large amounts of money.

4. South Carolina State Senator Jake M. Knotts is censured by the Lexington County Republican Party Executive Committee.

5. South Carolina State Senator Jake M. Knotts is called upon by the Lexington County Republican Party Executive Committee to immediately resign from his elected office.

Comments

0 #8 Embarassed 2011-06-08 11:29

Seems I struck a nerve! I did not define Zealots Tommy C, you did. A good definition is:
zeal·ot (zlt)
n.
1.
a. One who is zealous, especially excessively so.
b. A fanatically committed person.

As a member of the "old guard" - or should I say the builders of the Republican party - there are other ways to handle things. I do not support Jake Knotts actions, I will vote for his opponent - again - but enough already. Go on to the next thing.

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0 #7 Working Tommy C 2011-06-08 10:40

Quoting Embarassed:

This will be ignored. It only makes the Lexington County Republicans look like a bunch of zealots...is he wrong? Yes. Should we vote him out? Yes. But let's quit beating a dead horse.

So "zealots" by your definition means people who are paying attention to what is going on and are going to speak out each and every time Knotts does something reprehensible or illegal? Well, sir, by that definition I am a zealot and proud of it.

And how do you call it "beating a dead horse" when 1) he's not out of office yet which makes him very much a "live horse" and 2) this censure has nothing to do with the previous censure which was for something completely different.

Should we ignore illegal actions by Knotts and just "hope" that everyone else understands that we don't approve of his sleazy and desperate tactics used to beat a formidable opponent in the 2008 primary?

Or do we make a statement showing that we disapprove in the strongest manner possible of his repeatedly and knowingly breaking the law?

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0 #6 Embarassed 2011-06-07 12:19

This will be ignored. It only makes the Lexington County Republicans look like a bunch of zealots...is he wrong? Yes. Should we vote him out? Yes. But let's quit beating a dead horse.

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+1 #5 Normal Nav 2011-06-07 11:55

Mr Knotts is the poster boy for all that is wrong with electoral politics, from Local, to State to Federal. It's become a path to self engrandizement and self enrichment. Mr Knotts and those like him should be taken to the public square and put in stocks for all to see, a little public humiliation used to go a long way, now it seems it's no big deal. I'm ashamed for all of us who have allowed this scourge to fester and now we will have to pay the price.

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+1 #4 Zorro 2011-06-07 11:45

And he is a retired Law Enforcement officer. It doesn't say much for Public Safety in SC if they don't come out and condemn him for his disregard of SC law. The public also loses confidence in our law enforcement personnel.

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+1 #3 Craig V Adams 2011-06-07 10:50

Thanks for the report. This just makes me want to work even harder to remove King Rino from his senatorial throne. Green and other establishment supporters are why we have a Tea Party.

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