Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The South Carolina Supreme Court will hear an appeal later this year from a Republican activist who accused Gov. Nikki Haley of ethics violations.

The court on Tuesday said it would hear John Rainey's appeal March 20.

Rainey says Haley illegally lobbied for an engineering firm and a hospital while she was a member of the House. Rainey wants the high court to determine if a circuit court judge was right to dismiss his lawsuit over the matter last year, sending it to the House Ethics Committee.

In June, that panel cleared the Republican governor in hearings that Rainey called a shameful farce. Rainey was subpoenaed but never testified.

Haley has dismissed the allegations as part of a political vendetta and called Rainey a racist, sexist bigot during the hearings.

(Copyright 2013, The Associated Press)