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Did Mark Sanford Break the Law?

Earlier trip to Argentina paid for by state.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford said today that he paid for his most recent visit to Argentina (“It was my own ticket,” he told reporters), but one trip since his election in 2002 was financed by the South Carolina Department of Commerce. The trip most likely took place after he met his mistress, Politico reports, though it is unclear when exactly it occurred. But it’s unlikely that other aspects of his trip—or the affair—raise legal issues. According to John Simpkins, a professor at the Charleston School of Law, transfer-of-power requirements in the state of South Carolina don’t indicate Sanford violated any laws in fleeing the country without word of where he was going. “There's been a tradition that the governors will notify their lieutenant governors when they are out of state, typically," Simpkins said to NPR, "and when they are out of the country, certainly,” but his behavior was more “imprudent” than anything else.