For the first time in more than two centuries as an American state, lawmakers in South Carolina will try to remove an elected official across the country.
The Senate dominated by Republicans on Wednesday decided to hold a hearing to decide whether Republican state treasurer Curtis Lofis should beremoved from the officeOver $ 1.8 billionAccounting errorand then failed to report the problem to the General Assembly. Lofis says trying to overthrow is politically motivated.
Lofis can be removed if two -thirds of the Senate and the home vote against him. At the April 21 hearing, the senators will present their case and Lofis or his lawyer will have three hours to respond. The house will then follow the lawsuit with its own hearing.
Money that did not exist
A58-pageThe report released last week on the accounting error says that South Carolina’s books have been inaccurate for 10 years and continue to be corrected. The state paid millions of dollars to court accountants who eventually found that the missing money was not the money that the state never spent, but instead was a series of mistakes in balancing books and changing accounts from one system to another that never reconciled.
The state “should not equip the current fiscal surveillance – the banking and investment functions of our country – to continue inability. In short: if the treasurer cannot follow the treasurer, then he should not remain a treasurer,” the senators wrote in his report that included more than600 pagesof exhibits.
Lofis responded by saying he had won four elections in 2010 and called the Senate’s investigation as kidnapped to be able to get support for the box office to become a designated position.
“South Carolina’s Financial Threat Isn’t From Mismanagement Or Missing Money. The Real Danger Comes from a Relentless, Politically Motivated Attack on My Office – One That Bishes Undermining Our State’s Financial Reputation, Increasing, Increasing, TaxPayer Costs, and Stripping Voters of their Right to Elect A Treasuryer Who Works for the People, Not Special Interests, ”Loftis WroteIn a statement.
The origin of the error
The problems began because the state changed computer systems in the 2010s. When the process ended, workers could not understand why the books were of $ 1 billion. A fund was created to cover accounting errors and over the years more were added to paper to maintain balanced state books.
The mistake came to light after General Controller Richard Erstromresigned in March 2023through a different error in accounting andhis replacementreported the mystery account.
The report said that Lofis not only ignored or failed to find mistakes made by his office, but also dismissed or slowed down attempts to self -examine the problem.
“The treasurer tried to cover them up. He covered him for a better part of seven to eight years,” said Republican Senator Steven Goldfinch.
The Senate Subcommittee held hearings to question Lofis under oath. They were disputed. Lofis slammed papers, accused senators of witch hunting and threatened to get up and leave.
Calculation with senators
A move that angered senators especially came after the MP asked Lofis why he did not submit reports of state finances, as required by law. The cashier said it would publish an online report, which may include bank account numbers and other sensitive information.
Senators were in trouble the next day. They said the report could be easily released without information that would allow computer criminals to empty the state accounts.
They had the Governor and the head of state police to find Lofis and demand that he not publish the report. The cashier said he was only following the Senate instructions.
“His unstable temperament and angry behavior degrade those accused of working with him to secure the financial position of South Carolina,” the senators wrote in last week’s report.
The report says Lofis is responsible for millions of dollars to be spent through his lack of surveillance, and later a lack of cooperation investigating the account.
What happens next?
The Senate approved on Wednesday, as it is called the “Removal of the Address Removal” hearing with a vote without opposition. Lawmakers have never taken the constitutional step to the conclusion.
The future of the resolution is a little more gloomy in the home, where no Republicans have come forcibly to call the treasurer’s removal.
Republican Governor Henry McMaster has also suggested that Lofis be removed from office is too drastic, but the governor has no major role in the process.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
Source link
