South Carolina governor did not misuse state funds: official

By Matthew Bigg

ATLANTA (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who faces growing calls to quit over his affair with an Argentine woman, did not misuse public funds in trips he made to see his mistress, the state's top police official said on Thursday.

The announcement by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) director Reggie Lloyd gave some relief to the embattled Republican governor, who has 18 months remaining of his term.

"SLED at this time will say that in regards to this relationship, we have found no improper use of public funds," Lloyd told a news conference in the state capital Columbia. He said Sanford had cooperated with the investigation.

A number of Republican colleagues and allies of 49-year-old Sanford have urged him to step down after the emotional public confessions he has made about his affair with a Buenos Aires businesswoman, including a secret trip to Argentina over the Father's Day weekend.

Sanford, a father of four, had agreed a trial separation from his wife Jenny.

Sanford's tearful admission of the affair last week was another blow to the waning political fortunes of the Republican Party, and dashed any aspirations he might have held of running for president in 2012.

Public questions over his behavior focused on whether he used state funds to meet his lover on several occasions over the last year, including during an official Commerce Department trade mission to Brazil and Argentina.

Sanford, who stepped down as chairman of the Republican Governors Association when he first confessed to the affair, has said he will repay state funds he used for the Argentine leg of the trade mission.