SC gov’s husband wanted wine chiller

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s husband contemplated using taxpayer money to chill wine, some of which was donated by a business that later was given a private reception at the governor’s mansion, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

The email exchanges show Haley campaign donors that spent at least $12,043 on her 2010 election were sending first gentleman Michael Haley lists of wine that his company would donate. The wine donations were followed by the reception, where the company’s brass rubbed elbows with the governor. Donor Mike Sisk of Ridgeway-based Ben Arnold Co. was appointed in April to the State Ports Authority as a non-voting member, giving him a voice in the state’s import and export dealings.

Rob Godfrey, the governor’s spokesman, said plans by Michael Haley to create what amounts to a wine cellar were never acted upon.

“First, taxpayer money was not used here,” Godfrey said in an email. “The governor’s mansion is an old house and sometimes in need of improvements. Like any family, the Haleys talk about potential improvements to the house, but also like any family they often don’t go through with improvements when they don’t make sense – as was the case here.”

The emails irked conservatives and critics, including Talbert Black, who runs the conservative Palmetto Liberty PAC.

“I don’t know many people have a wine cellar in their home. That seems above the normal of what the average person has,” said Black, whose political action committee works to defeat Republicans that the group says aren’t conservative enough.

Black, who supported Haley’s 2010 bid and now thinks she’ll lose re-election, said he was glad taxpayer money wasn’t used to pay for the wine. However, he said businesses shouldn’t be given special treatment.

State Ethics Commission Executive Director Herb Hayden said there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with the donors later having a Governor’s Mansion event, “unless you can tie the two together: that one was in return for the other.”

State Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian said it shows Haley “is out of touch with reality. The idea they’d spend time thinking about a wine cellar demonstrates how totally tone deaf and distracted Nikki Haley and her husband are.” He said they should be spending time on critical needs such as failing bridges to faltering schools.

A review of nearly 2,000 pages of email and other documents, which were provided under a Freedom of Information Act request, shows the mansion’s wine holdings had been growing for months. Sisk, an executive vice president and chief financial officer of Ben Arnold Co., offered lists of free wine to Michael Haley and the governor’s executive chef, Geoffrey Sandifer.

Sisk and the company did not respond to messages.

On Aug. 10, Sandifer wrote David Martin, the state’s facilities manager, about keeping wine in a controlled environment. “Hey, when you get some time, can we get together and brainstorm how we can get our wine room to actually be air conditioned and humidity controlled? We have a large amount of wine that needs to be in a more suitable environment than in its current un-air conditioned closet,” Sandifer wrote. “No rush, just something Mr. Haley brought up and I agreed with. Our other alternative, which probably is more expensive, is to acquire a large wine refrigerator.”

Martin asked that night if Sandifer wanted a small air conditioner. On Sept. 2, Martin said he needed to talk again “on how we can see about the wine cooler addition. I mentioned it in a `project meeting’ yesterday so we can work on identifying a funding source.”

Sisk was an early supporter of Nikki Haley’s campaign, according to her reports to the state Ethics Commission.

He and his wife had donated more than $1,400 in 2009, when Haley was seen as a longshot. In September, he spent $324 on what was listed as food for a reception. In May 2010, as Haley was surging in the polls, he spent $6,286 on campaign signs. Meanwhile, Ben Arnold donated $3,500 to Haley’s campaign in September as the general election approached.

Within days of Haley’s inauguration in January, Sisk was offering Michael Haley lists of free wine.

“I have attached the Riedel file as well as some aged wine that we need to move out. We can donate some of the aged to the mansion `inventory,“’ Sisk wrote on Jan. 17. Two weeks later, Sisk made it clear that everything except the pricey Riedel wines – which he was selling at wholesale cost – would be donated.

Meanwhile, Sandifer reiterated a request from Michael Haley to add Jack Daniel’s whiskey to the beverages available.

On July 15, Sisk offered another round of wine donations to Sandifer. Sandifer replied he would review the list with Michael Haley and get back to Sisk the following week.

The emails show that an Aug. 15 reception was planned at the Governor’s Mansion for Ben Arnold executives.

Godfrey said there was nothing unusual about the donors having an event.

“The governor met with a handful (of) executives from Ben Arnold at the Mansion as she meets with executives of companies all the time – to talk about what South Carolina can do to help them expand here and create jobs,” Godfrey said. “There is no connection between the meeting and any wine Ben Arnold has donated to the Mansion foundation, but to be clear: Ben Arnold donates alcohol to the Mansion foundation because the Haleys do not believe taxpayers should cover the cost of it.”