The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

CNN: ‘There Is Nothing in the Correspondence Proving Folks’ Claim That He Had an “Inappropriate Physical Relationship” with Haley’

Posted on | May 26, 2010 | 31 Comments

They buried the lede in the sixth paragraph, but that’s the payoff:

The blogger claiming to have had an affair with South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley has posted a series of text messages between himself and Haley’s campaign manager that appear to show the two men colluding about how to handle the forthcoming scandal.
The messages, covering a nine-day period earlier this month before conservative blogger Will Folks went public with his accusation against the Republican hopeful, were posted Wednesday morning on his website, FITSNews.com.
“I’m telling you man, we keep this under wraps and nh is going to win,” reads one text message from Haley campaign manager Tim Pearson to Folks on May 15.
Pearson and Folks swap worried messages about different reporters chasing the story, and one exchange suggests there may be a newsworthy photograph of Haley and Folks.
Pearson confirmed to CNN the authenticity of the text messages.
While Pearson and Folks make allusions to the “rumor,” there is nothing in the correspondence proving Folks’ claim that he had an “inappropriate physical relationship” with Haley in 2007.
But Folks has suggested that he has more text messages and e-mails from Haley proving the supposed affair. He has yet to make that evidence public.

If I claimed to have text messages proving that Will Folks snorts methamphetamine while masturbating to his personal DVD collection of “Hannah Montana” (Season One), would that get me linked by CNN? Probably not.

And if South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster got a search warrant and assigned a computer forensics lab to go over Will Folks’ hard drive with a fine-toothed comb seeking evidence of extortion, what would they find? I don’t know.

What I do know is that Will Folks is playing the “sue me for libel” game with a public figure, demanding that Nikki Haley prove a negative:

Team Haley’s response to our founding editor’s preemptive admission of an “inappropriate physical relationship” was to relentlessly smear his credibility as well as the credibility of this website. . . .
What have they not done, however?
Sued our founding editor for libel.

The “our founding editor” language, of course, indicates that Folks is writing in the third-person about himself, portraying himself as a victim of politically-motivated persecution:

“Oh, that horrible Nikki Haley! First the brazen hussy forced me to have sex with her, and now she has the effrontery to deny it! How dare they impugn my integrity! Why don’t they confront the conclusive proof? After all, I exchanged text messages with her campaign manager about a rumor! My credibility is sacrosanct! If they don’t sue me for libel, that proves I’m telling the truth — and they can’t handle the truth!”

Remember: People who know Folks describe him as “dangerous and unreliable,” and he has been accused of online stalking. And here are the key text-messages that Folks cites as proof, beginning with an exchange with Wes Donehue, a supporter of Haley rival Gresham Barrett:

From: Wes Donehue
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 13, 2010 2:55 PM
I just don’t know who has told more people, you or Nikki.

From: Wes Donehue
To: Will Folks
Sent: May 14, 2010 10:36 AM
Now, I don’t give a f— of you believe me or not. Your the one who screwed her. You’re the one who bragged about it. She’s the one who told BJ. Yall point fingers at your own damn selves and leave me the f— out of it.

Ask any lawyer: This is hearsay. Donehue is saying that Folks “bragged about it” and that Nikki Haley told BJ — her former campaign advisor B.J. Boling, now working for Barrett — about the alleged affair. But this overlooks the possibility that B.J. Boling is liar. Perhaps Nikki Haley never told Boling any such thing, and he’s now just disrguntled toward his former employer, he’s claiming that she admitted an affair in order to damage her and help his current employer.

The one thing I don’t doubt for a minute is that Will Folks is a braggart, and also a drama queen. Six days later, Folks is freaking out because he believes Associated Press reporter Jim Davenport is writing a story about the rumor:

From: Will Folks
To: Tim Pearson
Sent: May 20, 2010 4:29 PM
F—ing nuts. People saying davenport story is imminent. I am honestly losing my mind a little.

Meanwhile, weekly tabloid reporter Corey Hutchins is also chasing the rumor:

From: Will Folks
To: Tim Pearson
Sent: May 21, 2010 6:55 AM
My sources indicate Hutchins is running next week (possibly cover) and Davenport is trying to beat him to the punch.

Count me as having ceased to be remotely interested in whether or not anything “inappropriate” actually transpired between Will Folks and Haley — or between Will Folks and the Haley family’s housekeeper, or between Will Folks and the Haley family’s Labrador retriever. What is indisputably proven by these text messages:

  • Folks bears primary responsibility for the rumor, having bragged to several people that he had an affair with Nikki Haley.
  • Two people with the Gresham Barrett campaign — one of them a former Haley employee — were trying to turn the rumor into a full-blown scandal, three weeks before the GOP primary.
  • When Folks realized that the rumor he started was about to be reported as a news story, he freaked completely out.

Why the freakout? A fair and accurate story, written by a competent professional reporter, would have identified Will Folks as the primary source of the rumors. Folks had been running his mouth for three years, and now he was about to be exposed as a two-faced backstabber.

“I am honestly losing my mind a little.”

Yeah. Game’s up, buddy. And your mind ain’t all you’re losing. However this story ends for Nikki Haley — and right now, it looks like she’s winning — it will end very, very badly for Will Folks. Once you become a regular punchline for Ace of Spades . . .

Say, whatever happened to Jackie Mackie Paisley Passey, anyway?

Category: Blogging, Republicans, Scandal, South Carolina

Comments

31 Responses to “CNN: ‘There Is Nothing in the Correspondence Proving Folks’ Claim That He Had an “Inappropriate Physical Relationship” with Haley’”

  1. Will Folks
    May 26th, 2010 @ 7:37 pm

    I am, however, getting a lot more blog traffic than I used to get. I am going to milk this for all it is worth. Any news is good news when you are a professional blogwhore.

  2. Will Folks
    May 26th, 2010 @ 2:37 pm

    I am, however, getting a lot more blog traffic than I used to get. I am going to milk this for all it is worth. Any news is good news when you are a professional blogwhore.

  3. Will Folks
    May 26th, 2010 @ 7:44 pm

    Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey. Thanks for reminding me of her. I did her. She yelled “Oh God” too, so don’t believe that athiesm stuff.

  4. Will Folks
    May 26th, 2010 @ 2:44 pm

    Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey. Thanks for reminding me of her. I did her. She yelled “Oh God” too, so don’t believe that athiesm stuff.

  5. David
    May 26th, 2010 @ 8:24 pm

    Maybe there should be a Folks addendum to the ‘how to get a million hits on your blog’ rules.

  6. David
    May 26th, 2010 @ 3:24 pm

    Maybe there should be a Folks addendum to the ‘how to get a million hits on your blog’ rules.

  7. Robert Stacy McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 8:36 pm

    Maybe there should be a Folks addendum to the ‘how to get a million hits on your blog’ rules.

    Excellent suggestion:

    Rule 6: Don’t be a complete douchebag.

  8. Robert Stacy McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 3:36 pm

    Maybe there should be a Folks addendum to the ‘how to get a million hits on your blog’ rules.

    Excellent suggestion:

    Rule 6: Don’t be a complete douchebag.

  9. Rich Fader
    May 26th, 2010 @ 8:45 pm

    “Pics or STFU” has meaning in my world. Does it in Will Folks’?

  10. Rich Fader
    May 26th, 2010 @ 3:45 pm

    “Pics or STFU” has meaning in my world. Does it in Will Folks’?

  11. Will Folks
    May 26th, 2010 @ 9:10 pm

    The curious semi-disappearance of Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey

    Several years ago, prior to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey.

    That’s it.

    I will not be discussing the details of that relationship, nor will I be granting any additional interviews about it to members of the media beyond what I have already been compelled to confirm.

  12. Will Folks
    May 26th, 2010 @ 4:10 pm

    The curious semi-disappearance of Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey

    Several years ago, prior to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey.

    That’s it.

    I will not be discussing the details of that relationship, nor will I be granting any additional interviews about it to members of the media beyond what I have already been compelled to confirm.

  13. Joe
    May 26th, 2010 @ 10:12 pm

    These photographs could represent various bloggers and politicians. Which one is Will Folks? Andrew Sullivan? Charles Johnson?

  14. Joe
    May 26th, 2010 @ 5:12 pm

    These photographs could represent various bloggers and politicians. Which one is Will Folks? Andrew Sullivan? Charles Johnson?

  15. Rule 6: Don’t Be a Complete Douchebag : The Other McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 5:39 pm

    […] on | May 26, 2010 | No CommentsThanks to the commenter on the previous post who said that the exploits of Will Folks should inspire an addendum to “How to Get a Million Hits On Your Blog.”There is a line […]

  16. Robert Stacy McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 10:49 pm

    The curious semi-disappearance of Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey

    Curious, yes. Mysterious, no. The whole point of JMPP’s blog was vanity, as she invited the world to admire her. Once the mirror started laughing at her, she ditched the mirror.

    QED.

  17. Robert Stacy McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 5:49 pm

    The curious semi-disappearance of Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey

    Curious, yes. Mysterious, no. The whole point of JMPP’s blog was vanity, as she invited the world to admire her. Once the mirror started laughing at her, she ditched the mirror.

    QED.

  18. Will Folks and the too high price « DaTechguy's Blog
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:10 pm

    […] Meanwhile Robert Stacy Bottom lines the whole issue in the title of his latest post: CNN: ‘There Is Nothing in the Correspondence Proving Folks’ Claim That He Had an “Inappropriat… […]

  19. Bob Belvedere
    May 27th, 2010 @ 12:56 am

    Linked to at:
    Rule 6

  20. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 7:56 pm

    Linked to at:
    Rule 6

  21. CGHill
    May 27th, 2010 @ 1:20 am

    I don’t think I’m violating any confidences here to tell you that (1) Jacqueline is now happily married and (2) living in Las Vegas.

    And she’d have given Will Folks a boot to the groin, had there been any possibility of actual damage.

  22. CGHill
    May 26th, 2010 @ 8:20 pm

    I don’t think I’m violating any confidences here to tell you that (1) Jacqueline is now happily married and (2) living in Las Vegas.

    And she’d have given Will Folks a boot to the groin, had there been any possibility of actual damage.

  23. Obi's Sister
    May 27th, 2010 @ 1:48 am

    He is pretty high on the creepizoid meter.

    And thanks for the blast from the past. I’d forgotten all about her. I wonder if she turned into the fat, single mom she so dumped upon.

  24. Obi's Sister
    May 26th, 2010 @ 8:48 pm

    He is pretty high on the creepizoid meter.

    And thanks for the blast from the past. I’d forgotten all about her. I wonder if she turned into the fat, single mom she so dumped upon.

  25. Aleister
    May 27th, 2010 @ 5:24 am

    Stacy,

    You and Ace have done such a great job covering this. Thanks for that.

    Aleister

  26. Aleister
    May 27th, 2010 @ 12:24 am

    Stacy,

    You and Ace have done such a great job covering this. Thanks for that.

    Aleister

  27. Norman Rogers
    May 27th, 2010 @ 9:51 am

    Welcome to the big time, Mr. Folks. Sorry to see everything go to pieces on you like that. Oh, well. Better luck next time, son.

  28. Norman Rogers
    May 27th, 2010 @ 4:51 am

    Welcome to the big time, Mr. Folks. Sorry to see everything go to pieces on you like that. Oh, well. Better luck next time, son.

  29. Bob Belvedere
    May 27th, 2010 @ 11:28 am

    I second Aleister’s motion. Top-of-the-line reporting, analysis, and commentary.

    WARNING: Humor coming….
    Stacy, thank you for this teachable moment.

  30. Bob Belvedere
    May 27th, 2010 @ 6:28 am

    I second Aleister’s motion. Top-of-the-line reporting, analysis, and commentary.

    WARNING: Humor coming….
    Stacy, thank you for this teachable moment.

  31. VIDEO: Is Wes Donehue Evil? Or Is Will Folks Total Scum? : The Other McCain
    May 30th, 2010 @ 1:08 pm

    […] Evil? Or Is Will Folks Total Scum?Posted on | May 30, 2010 | No CommentsYou may remember these text messages about Nikki Haley from South Carolina GOP consultant Wes Donehue to Will Folks:From: Wes Donehue To: […]