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With calls unanswered, the governor's communications director Joel Sawyer juggled e-mails and media calls from around the nation, refining what was later proven to be an untrue message that the governor was taking a break after a draining legislative session and hiking the Appalachian Trail.
"The governor is hiking along the Appalachian Trail," Sawyer repeatedly wrote to reporters June 22. "I apologize for taking so long to send this update, and was waiting to see if a more definitive idea of what part of the Trail he was on before we did so."
Through the state's open record laws, The State on Monday received nearly 600 pages of documents -- e-mails and phone call exchanges -- between the governor's staff members.
The documents shed new light on a June 18-24 secret trip the governor took to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to visit his lover, including Sanford missing an economic development meeting during his time in South America.
Sanford has said he misled his staff to believe he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.
The governor was approached June 24 by a reporter from The State newspaper in the Atlanta airport as he exited a plane on his way back from Buenos Aires. He later confessed to the affair with his Maria Belen Chapur, his Argentine lover, whom he called his soul mate, as well as other inappropriate contact with other unnamed women.
Critics who have called for the governor to step down said Sanford abandoned the state.
The documents show:
• The governor's staff appears to have believed the governor was hiking the Appalachian Trail. On June 18, the day the governor left for Buenos Aires, the governor's scheduler e-mailed State House law enforcement security that she was "not sure of (the governor's) weekend plans still."
The governor's phone records for his state-issued cell phone show six days of no communication between Sanford and his chief of staff. On June 23, the governor finally returned English's calls.
English and Sawyer only exchanged one e-mail on their state e-mail accounts about Sanford's whereabouts, according to the documents given to The State.
• The governor allowed some economic development initiatives to take a back seat during his secret trip. He was invited to but turned down a dinner invitation June 24 with representatives from a company looking to expand their S.C. operation, according to e-mail records. Sanford also declined a June 25 celebration event for a S.C. business' plant expansion because his schedule was "just absolutely jammed this summer," wrote a staffer in an e-mail.
• By June 22, five days after Sanford had left for his trip, dozens of media outlets were working to determine where he was.
Some outlets, hoping to outdo their competition, were volunteering to coordinate with the governor's office to spin the story to Sanford's advantage.
A staffer with The Washington Times wrote in an e-mail that "if you all want to speak on this publicly, you're welcome to Washington Times Radio. You know that you will be on friendly ground here!"
On June 23, a Fox News Channel correspondent wrote to Sawyer, "Having known the governor for years and even worked with him when he would host radio shows for me -- I find this story and the media frenzy surrounding it to be absolutely ridiculous! Please give him my best."
