SC Gov. Mark Sanford says he's had an affair

3:00pm   6/24/09

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said during a news conference on Wednesday that he has been unfaithful to his wife with a friend from Argentina he met eight years ago.

The admission comes after Sanford disappeared for five days on a trip. His staff said he had gone hiking along the Appalachian Trail, but the Republican governor said the he had spent the last five days "crying in Argentina."

"The bottom line is this," Sanford said. "I've been unfaithful to my wife."

A teary-eyed Sanford gave details about the development of his relationship with his Argentinean friend. He said that he met the woman eight years ago and that they originally just exchanged e-mails about their lives. He said that they became romantically involved within the last year.

Sanford said that he spent the last five days talking with the woman and the pair came to the conclusion that they should return to their spouses and families because it was the right thing to do.

"God's laws are meant to protect us from ourselves," Sanford said.

Sanford said that his wife Jenny and the rest of his family knew about the affair before he left on the trip. He said the he plans to reconcile with his wife.

The governor said that he will also resign his position as chairman of the Republican Governor's Association. He said he wants to spend as much of his time as he can apologizing to the people of South Carolina and that he will not have time for the RGA.

Sanford did not answer a questions about whether he will resign as governor.

Sanford Returns From Argentina, Not Hike

Sanford had been missing for five days, and speculation surrounded the disappearance until Monday night when his aides released a statement saying that the Republican governor was hiking along the Appalachian Trail to “recharge” after a difficult legislative session.

On Tuesday, Sanford’s staff told the media that he was “taken aback” by the amount of attention his trip received and that he would return to the office on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, The State newspaper said that its reporter caught up with Sanford at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. According to the newspaper, Sanford said he was in Buenos Aries, Argentina during his trip and not hiking.

Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer declined to comment Wednesday morning to The Associated Press. Sanford's critics are slamming his administration for lying to the public.

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer talked with Stephanie Maxwell and Dan Bubany about Sanford’s disappearance during The Morning News on Wednesday.

Bauer said that he is shocked at the amount of media attention Sanford’s trip has garnered. He said that the governor deserves time off just like anyone else. He said the problem lies in the fact that it was difficult to reach Sanford during his trip.

“I don’t fault the governor on this,” Bauer said. “I fault his staff. His staff has got to have a better line of communication with the governor.”

Some state lawmakers have been critical of Sanford, saying that his disappearance raises constitutional questions.

“To simply leave the state like this for days is alarming,” said Sen. David Thomas. “It is a very upsetting for a number of security reasons.”

Other state lawmakers said that they believe Sanford’s trip is being blown out of proportion.

“When I saw some of the ones that were making the loudest noise about him being gone, my goodness, you would’ve thought it was President Obama who had left,” said Sen. Mike Fair. “This isn’t 1860 and I don’t think we are getting ready to succeed.”