Harrell Ethics Case Goes to State Grand Jury

“We have been cooperating fully, and the investigation is sort of wrapping up,” Daniel, a former U.S. attorney for South Carolina, said at the time. “We expect a positive result in the near future.”

But Harrell, the House speaker since 2005 and a House member since 1993, wasn’t in a celebratory mood Monday after S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office announced that the ethics investigation was being referred to the state grand jury.

“At every stage of this investigation it was reiterated to us that investigators have found no areas of concern,” the Charleston Republican said in a prepared statement. “Given every indication we have received from SLED and the Attorney General, I am disappointed and shocked by this sudden change of course.”

Harrell contended that he “cooperated fully and voluntarily with this investigation,” noting that he “provided access to everything they requested and met with investigators for several interviews.”

Harrell called on Wilson to publicly release the SLED report on the investigation, contending that the probe has “drawn on far too long and been done behind closed doors.”

A source told The Nerve that SLED’s written summary of its investigation totaled about 30 pages, though the entire report was several hundred pages with various attachments.

Harrell in his statement accused Wilson of notifying the press Monday before contacting him or his attorneys “about this decision.” But Mark Powell, Wilson’s spokesman, told The Nerve that the Attorney General’s Office contacted Daniel “at least 30 minutes prior to the media advisory going out.”

Powell, however, declined to comment on specifics of the SLED report, releasing the following written statement: “This is an ongoing investigation and we cannot comment on the substance of it. We cannot and will not release any SLED report, or any other documents.”

The Nerve received a similar response Monday after verbally requesting a copy of the SLED report from SLED.

“Anything that is referred to the state grand jury, there will not be any comments made about any aspect of it,” said SLED spokesman Thom Berry.

Harrell, who is scheduled to be in Columbia today for the first day of this year’s legislative session, did not respond to a phone message from The Nerve late Monday afternoon seeking comment. Charleston attorney Gedney Howe, one of Harrell’s lawyers, didn’t respond to a phone message left at his law office.

Daniel, whose law office is in Charleston, declined comment when contacted Monday, referring The Nerve to Harrell’s prepared statement.

The Nerve on Monday also interviewed three veteran attorneys not connected with the case, including a former SLED director and an ex-prosecutor for the state grand jury, on issues related to the grand jury.

Read the full story, including an explanation of grand jury powers, here.