COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s former elections director was arrested Friday and charged with utilizing a state bank card to pay for greater than $5,400 in gas as he drove his state automotive for private use.
Howard Knapp, 40, was charged with embezzlement, misconduct in workplace and eight counts of utilizing his workplace for private acquire.
Knapp, who was fired final month, additionally was charged as an adjunct after his deputy director allegedly put a recording machine inside a boardroom the place the state Election Fee was discussing Knapp’s job in a closed door assembly, based on arrest warrants.
State brokers stated their investigation into Knapp continues.
Knapp’s lawyer urged issues with the board or others led to trumped up prices.
“That is all about politics. We stay up for a really public trial. See you there,” Knapp’s lawyer Joe McCullough advised reporters Friday after Knapp was launched from jail on a promise to return for future court docket hearings.
Additionally arrested on Friday was the previous deputy director of the company, 41-year-old Paige Salonich. She was fired for a profane outburst after listening to Knapp had been fired, officers stated. She had left behind a recording machine within the boardroom in an “try and intercept confidential communications with out consent,” based on a warrant signed by a State Regulation Enforcement Division agent. Her lawyer did not remark after her bond listening to.
After Knapp and Salonich have been ordered out of the company’s workplace, Knapp known as different staff asking for assist to get the recorder out of the room, brokers stated.
The state Election Fee issued a press release Friday saying not one of the prices in opposition to Knapp had something to do with the integrity of elections.
At a gathering earlier this month, South Carolina Election Fee Chairman Dennis Shedd stated the company is reviewing the acquisition of three,200 poll scanners in 2024 for about $32 million that was really helpful by Knapp.
“We’re discovering out new stuff that outdated administration did,” Shedd stated
