South Carolina's Top Law Enforcement Officer Can't Seem to Follow the Law Himself

It started on day one. Wilson's campaign left more than $134,000 in contributions and expenses for his 2011 inaugural gala off its disclosure reports, and the public did not learn about it for nearly two years. Among the missing checks was $3,500 from then-House Speaker Bobby Harrell, a transfer a watchdog group said state law may have barred. Wilson blamed “clerical errors” and paid no penalty.^9,10

In May 2025, the State Ethics Commission opened an investigation into Wilson's campaign. The complaint says a Houston rail company, LJA Rail, sent his campaign $25,000, far over the legal limit, and that the campaign then “refunded” the same amount to an “SC Conservative Action Fund” that did not show up in Secretary of State records. The complaint also says $25,000 in campaign money paid for Wilson's 50th birthday party at Williams-Brice Stadium. Wilson's campaign said a check “went to the wrong bank.”¹¹

Two months later, the Commission opened a second investigation covering three more alleged violations: Attorney General staff invited to his birthday fundraiser through their state email accounts, a campaign expense labeled a “fundraiser” that the complaint says covered his lodging for a Republican Attorneys General meeting in Utah, and a returned check reported without the details the law requires.¹²

In May 2024, Wilson's campaign also paid for his trip to New York to stand with Donald Trump outside his criminal trial, including a night at the Marriott Essex House.²⁶ His spokeswoman explained that for the Attorney General, “there is no such thing as vacation days.”

South Carolina ethics complaints stay confidential unless and until probable cause is found, so the current status of either 2025 matter cannot be confirmed from public records. This page describes both as open investigations and makes no claim of guilt or any finding. Wilson is not under investigation over the 2024 New York trip.