COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina’s top prosecutor is facing a disciplinary complaint alleging he backed a “false and frivolous” lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, accused of helping to fan the flame of insurrection that engulfed the U.S. Capitol last week.
In a four-page filing with the South Carolina Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Columbia attorney Chris Kenney accused Attorney General Alan Wilson and 16 other Republican attorneys general of contributing to the chaotic political situation by filing legal challenges casting doubt on election’s integrity, the Post and Courier of Charleston reported Tuesday.
Five people died amid the rioting by President Donald Trump’s supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“What is clear is that this attack on Congress was incited by the executive (President Donald Trump) with aid and comfort from many like Mr. Wilson who repeated and lent the credibility of their offices to the false claim that the presidential election was stolen from Trump,” Kenney wrote.
In an emailed statement to the paper, Wilson spokesman Robert Kittle called the filing “pure partisan politics” and declined further comment.
Wilson has recently acknowledged Democrat Joe Biden as the legitimate winner of the 2020 election and said he is unaware of any evidence presented to substantiate allegations of election fraud. But last month, Wilson made a filing that encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a lawsuit brought by the Texas attorney general that challenged the election results in four key battleground states that Biden won, Kenney wrote.
“Mr. Wilson now concedes there is no evidence for what he urged the U.S. Supreme Court to find and hold just one month ago,” Kenney wrote. “This amounts to a confession he violated his obligations as a member of the bar and warrants punishment, particularly in light of the harm he helped cause.”
Wilson is a former chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association. On Monday, his former aide, Adam Piper, resigned as executive director of the group amid revelations it sent a robocall encouraging “patriots” to march on the Capitol and demand Congress overturn the election results.
The call did not for advocate violence or suggest that protesters should invade the chambers where federal lawmakers had assembled to certify election results. Thousands of Trump’s supporters subsequently stormed the Capitol to try to stop the certification.
Wilson has said that he was “completely unaware” of and disagreed with the group’s involvement.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.