Written By : John Hawkins

As many of you may have heard, Will Folks, who supposedly runs the most popular political blog in South Carolina (I don’t recall ever hearing of it before), has alleged that he had an “inappropriate sexual relationship” with SC Governor candidate Nikki Haley.

The circumstances surrounding this allegation have been suspicious — to say the least. Will Folks claimed that the media was looking into the story and that it was going to come out anyway, but Folks’ allegation has driven the entire story. He also said he,

“Will not be discussing the details of that relationship, nor will I be granting any additional interviews about it to members of the media beyond what I have already been compelled to confirm.”

Yet, self-aggrandizing story after story about it are running on his blog.Folks’ story a bit,domestic battery and charges that he was paid to publish stories. Additionally, Erick Erickson, who’s very hooked in, added this,

So basically, we’re in a he said/she said situation. Nikki Haley flat out says it never occurred. Folks says it did and claims he has proof. Yet so far, he hasn’t released anything of substance. In fact, the evidence he’s presented so far is so flimsy, it undermines his credibility. The only thing he’s put out there so far are texts between him and Haley’s campaign manager, Tim Person, discussing keeping the rumor under wraps. That’s not exactly damning. It’s pretty standard campaign procedure. In fact, those texts seem to undermine

From: Tim Pearson
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 21, 2010 8:10 AM
I know desperation is the mother of all invention – but I feel like whatever they come up with will be manufactured – and transparently so.
—— SMS ——
From: Will Folks
To: Tim Pearson
Sent: May 21, 2010 2:46 PM
Sources telling me wes is bragging about a pciture.
—— SMS ——
From: Tim Pearson
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 21, 2010 2:48 PM
I dunno man. I think they’re just trying to get someone to jump. This is like the 4th diff kind of evidence he’s claimed to have.
—— SMS ——
From: Tim Pearson
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 21, 2010 2:48 PM
If he has a pic its very new … I just don’t buy it.

So, if Haley and Folks had an affair, why would they have to manufacture a story? If, as Folks implies, he and Haley have had a relationship of some sort that goes back to 2005, why would the pic have to be very new?

In addition to this, Folks has released  a  campaign photo-op style pic of him, Mark Sanford (he used to be an aide), and Nikki Haley. He also noted that she wrote him an email in 2005 thanking him for a nice piece he wrote about her and that her campaign was discussing the issue with him a few days before he went public. Folks and company have also tried to claim that the fact Haley hasn’t sued for libel proves he’s telling the truth, but of course, all that would do is focus a spotlight on the allegations for months;  so it would be a terrible move for Haley.

As if all that wasn’t complicated enough, Folks has a sleazy reputation that includes

I have it on very good authority from a third party group not connected to any of the campaigns that Folks was trying to sell this story last year. Sell it.

Now, here’s the problem with a story like this: If we actually knew Nikki Haley and Will Folks personally, we could probably say, “Yeah, maybe” or “Those two? No way!”

But at this early point, without knowing either of them, it’s pretty hard to say anything definitively about how truthful Folks is being here.

Still, my “sociopath-radar” is ringing hard here.

Imagine you slept with a married woman. What kind of sub-human slimeball would you have to be to publicly release that information to get attention for yourself — and that’s exactly what happened here. Folks claimed there were newspapers sniffing around on the story, but when he’s out there talking to rival campaigns about it, that’s no surprise. Moreover, anyone familiar with politics understands how “affair” stories work. If both participants deny it ever happened, unless you get caught at the hotel by the Enquirer or in Argentina, like Mark Sanford, the story dies. In other words, this is a story solely because Will Folks wants it to be  a  story.

That means that one of two things is true.

A) He’s a Levi Johnston style sociopath who slept with someone famous and wants to use  it  to make a name for himself.

B) He’s Jayson Blair and he’s making it all up.

Now some people might think option B isn’t likely — but, that’s not so. As I mentioned earlier, his blog is getting tons of attention from this and a libel suit is unlikely. Of course, if Folks doesn’t come out with some hard proof soon, people are going to assume he’s a liar and his credibility will be shot. That would dissuade a normal person — but, he may be crazy. And I don’t mean “He thinks Michael Moore should be President” crazy, I mean, “The CIA is sending me radiowaves through my teeth crazy.” You may not think bloggers and political aides can be that nuts — but, unlike most of you, I know a lot of them, so I can tell you that I know more than I sometimes tell people publicly, and, yes, some of them are indeed that crazy.

So, here’s how I’m looking at the story. There will be some hard evidence if this happened. Nikki Haley didn’t thank him one day for writing a nice column about her and then ask him to meet her in a hotel room. If they slept together, Folks has emails, texts, and IM messages that will prove it. That’s what he’s claiming, right? If he really has them, they’ll be released within a few days time and I’ll believe something happened. Until then, I think Haley deserves the benefit of the doubt. So, unless we see something solid from Folks by Friday, I’d say SC Republicans should assume that Folks is lying. In any case, lying or not, he’s an  obviously world class douchebag.

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