Mark Sanford
⚠️ All Corruption Flags (3)
From June 18 to June 24, 2009, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's whereabouts were unknown to his staff, security detail, and wife. His staff publicly said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. At a June 24, 2009 press conference, Sanford admitted that he had actually flown to Argentina to visit his mistress María Belén Chapur and had been unreachable during the six-day disappearance — leaving the state without gubernatorial leadership or notice to the Lieutenant Governor.
Following a Freedom of Information Act request, Sanford reimbursed South Carolina taxpayers for state funds used on a prior Department of Commerce trip during which he had also visited his mistress. The Associated Press subsequently reported that Sanford may have violated state law by other inappropriate uses of state aircraft, including flying a state plane to get a haircut.
On December 15, 2009, the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee voted UNANIMOUSLY to censure Sanford. In January 2010, the full South Carolina House of Representatives passed the censure resolution by a vote of 102–11. He remains one of the few sitting U.S. governors to be formally censured by his own state's legislature.