This afternoon conservative commentator Erick Erickson of RedState, a strong supporter of South Carolina gubernatorial candidate NIkki Haley, accused blogger Will Folks of receiving a payoff to push the story of an alleged affair between Folks and Haley — a charge Folks is strenuously denying.
In a post titled “BREAKING: We Know Who Did It,” which features a Drudge siren, Erickson writes: “Who paid Will Folks? He was alleged offered money. A LOT of money. In fact, RedState now confirms through a whole heap of sources that he’s been trying to sell this story for a year.”
Promising more details later, Erickson continues: “We know who paid Will Folks to push this story out there.”
In an email to TPMmuckraker, Folks rejects Erickson’s claim. “I have never tried to sell this story and I have absolutely no financial stake whatsoever in the S.C. Governor’s race or any other statewide election. No one has paid me to come forward, I did so as a result of threats and impending news coverage – both of which I have provided extensive documentation for.”
Erickson has been unstinting in his criticism of Folks for claiming an inappropriate relationship with Haley without providing evidence. In a post this morning promoting a moneybomb for Haley, Erickson blasted Folks and the media for, using Clarence Thomas’ phrase, conducting a “high tech lynching.”
“They’ve strung up Nikki Haley — skipping the issues, skipping the ethics, skipping experience, and going straight to calling her a whore. But they’ve shown nothing,” he wrote.
Haley, for her part, has been largely silent on the issue in the last couple days. She tweeted today: “Thank you to everyone for your support and prayers!”
