This story is far less sexy than the fallout over Gov. Nikki Haley’s dumping Darla Moore from the USC Board of Trustees, but it’s still worth pointing out. Among Haley’s many new appointees announced this week is Ray Chandler, a lawyer from Manning, SC and … You guessed it! … a Haley campaign donor. Chandler is the new chairman of the board of directors of Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, the home of the famous U.S.S. Yorktown, in Charleston.
I looked up Chandler’s contributions to Haley’s general election campaign as well as expenditures from the campaign to Chandler on the South Carolina Ethics Commission website. Haley’s air travel during the final weeks of the general election was done on Chandler’s personal plane. Chandler fronted $3620 and was reimbursed by the campaign. (I’m guessing he gave the campaign a sweet deal on the flight costs?)
Thomas Cofield, Haley’s replacement for Darla Moore on the USC Board of Trustees, is a Lexington County lawyer, and as I noted above, Chandler is also a lawyer. As my (conservative) friend described him, he’s “as trial lawyer-y as they come.” I googled Mr. Chandler, and his law firm profile highlights the following among his areas of expertise: “Personal Injury; Federal Criminal Law; Drug Crimes; Driving While Intoxicated; General Criminal Litigation.”
“Trial lawyer-y” indeed.
Rewind to the 2010 general election. Remember when almost every every criticism Haley levied against her opponent, Sen. Vincent Sheheen, pertained to his being an evil trial lawyer? If I had the time, I’d chase down a bunch of those cheap, lawyer-bashing one-liners to which she resorted time and time again against Sheheen and mash them up in a video to illustrate the hypocrisy.
She sure seems to have forgotten how much she detests members of the legal profession in the last four months.
