Written by: Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
April 11, 2025
COLUMBIA, SC (PE)—South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis announced his attorneys
have filed a petition with the state Supreme Court Thursday to stop a
hearing that could remove him from office.
The Senate Finance committee is attempting to remove Loftis from office for “willfully
neglected duties” stemming from a $1.8 million accounting error, which only
existed on paper and does not
involve actual money according to an independent audit.
The court filing comes after State Senators initiated a rare constitutional
process known as “removal on address” and schedules a hearing for April 21.
The Senate’s stated procedures for the hearing allow no witnesses to be called,
no objections to me made by the parties, and does not even establish
requirements for a quorum of members to be present.
“This injunction is about ensuring fairness, transparency, and adherence to the
rule of law, said Loftis. “I am asking the Supreme Court to step in and clarify
whether the Senate is authorized to overturn a state election using this provision.
The people of South Carolina deserve a process that upholds the law and the
democratic principles they have entrusted to us.”
In his petition, Loftis cited Article
XV of State code as evidence making the argument the constitutional section
only applies to “state officers elected by the General Assembly” and “has
certainly never been applied to statewide elected officials”
“No statewide elected official has ever been impeached or
removed from office under the current State Constitution,” the petition says.
“The State constitution clearly establishes a process for impeachment of
officials elected on a statewide basis. The House of Representatives alone
shall have the power of impeachment in cases of serious crimes or serious
misconduct in office.”
“We trust the Supreme Court will provide the guidance needed to resolve this
matter justly,” Loftis added. “My focus remains on serving the people of South
Carolina and safeguarding their financial interest, as I have done throughout
my tenure.”
Loftis has consistently maintained that the Senate’s actions are politically
motivated and lack merit and an independent audit determined the bookkeeping
errors were within the Comptroller General’s accounting system—not missing
funds.
Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkley, who chairs the powerful Senate Sub Committee
trying to remove Loftis, shares a different sentiment.
“I’m not saying there was a crime. I’m not saying there was a cover-up. But we
knew that errors occurred and that the folks responsible for those errors chose
not to try to correct them,” Grooms told reporters after a January report from
an independent audit found the mistake was the result of an accounting error when
the state converted from an old accounting system to a new one, and the
Comptroller General’s Office classified entries as cash instead of budget
dollars that was not real money. “The state’s books were a mess, but the
problem began—and let me make this clear—the problem began in the State
Treasurer’s Office.”
Groom’s subcommittee investigated the Comptroller General’s Office in 2023 for
a related $3.5 billion accounting error. Legislative scrutiny was able to force
Comptroller Richard Eskstrom to resign and the elected position be replaced by
an appointment with Brian J. Gaines.
Now Grooms and his committee are on the attack against
Loftis calling for his resignation while calling him a “liar” and his actions
“treasonous” while under Senate immunity protections from any kind of libel or
slander.
Loftis had announced last year his plans to retire and not seek re-election but
has changed his mind and decided to fight back against the allegations against
him and announced his bid for re-election accusing the Senate subcommittee of
running a campaign of lies against him protected by immunity from the Senate
floor.
This is not the first time Loftis has found himself in the cross hairs. He has been under scrutiny, investigated and threatened to be removed for more than a decade.
Since blowing the whistle in 2013 on the mismanagement of the State pension, they’ve been coming for Loftis. But that hasn't stopped him.
In 2014, Loftis disclosed that the SC Retirement System Investment Commission was paying hundreds of millions per year in hidden fees to their special interests Wall Street friends, and in 2016 he called out the SC Investment Commission for costing the state $7 billion on bad investments.
Loftis was first elected in 2010 to the Treasurer’s Office and was looking forward to retirement, but said he now must stay.
“I’m going to run again and I’m going to spend the money to buy ads to tell what’s happening. I can afford it and I’m going to do it,” he told Folks announcing his reelection bid. “I’ve got to stay. I can’t turn my back. I lost both my parents in the last few years and if my dad knew I turned my back when I was needed the most, you know I can’t do that.”
He lives in Columbia, S.C.
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