State grand jury report concluded Attorney General Alan Wilson's actions impeded a Statehouse corruption investigation, said it could not determine his motive; no charges followed, 2018
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The Twenty-Eighth South Carolina State Grand Jury, in a report filed June 21, 2018 (Investigation 2016-257) and released publicly on Oct 9, 2018, concluded that Attorney General Alan Wilson impeded the investigation into the political consulting firm Richard Quinn & Associates, Richard Quinn and his clients. It found that after former House Speaker Bobby Harrell's October 2014 guilty plea, Wilson limited the special prosecutor's authority to enforcing the Harrell plea agreement, that nothing substantive was done to pursue the investigation for about nine months until July 2015, and that the Attorney General's Office's challenge to the prosecutor's authority, decided against it by the South Carolina Supreme Court in Pascoe v. Wilson on July 13, 2016, caused a further delay of at least four months. The grand jury said the roughly 13-month delay let the statute of limitations run on some potential charges. It also concluded Wilson put his loyalty to Quinn, whose firm he continued to use for campaign services, above his duty to the state. The grand jury said it was unable to determine whether Wilson was motivated in part by a desire to protect the Quinns, noted that Wilson and Solicitor General Robert Cook provided legitimate reasons for their actions, and said his involvement of Quinn in drafting correspondence to limit the prosecutor's authority 'demonstrates poor judgment at best.' Wilson testified voluntarily to the grand jury and said the delays occurred as he tried to make sure the investigation proceeded legally, according to the Associated Press. He told the AP the report was 'repackaged and recycled garbage' and a political attack weeks before the Nov 6, 2018 election, and that the grand jury 'could not indict in a court of law, because nothing wrong occurred.' No charge or sanction against Wilson arising from the report appears in the sources checked; he was re-elected Attorney General in November 2018 and November 2022 and is now the Republican nominee for Governor.
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- Report of the Twenty-Eighth State Grand Jury, In re State Grand Jury Investigation 2016-257 (filed June 21, 2018; unredacted per Dec 28, 2018 disclosure order), archived copy of First Circuit Solicitor's Office posting — Report of the Twenty-Eighth State Grand Jury, In re State Grand Jury Investigation 2016-257 (filed June 21, 2018; unredacted per Dec 28, 2018 disclosure order), archived copy of First Circuit Solicitor's Office postingDocument
Attorney General Alan Wilson impeded the investigation into RQ&A, Richard Quinn and his clients.
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