“Richard Quinn Sr., once a top South Carolina Republican consultant, told a state grand jury that Attorney General Alan Wilson was not paying him for drafting press statements and other documents – but that was a lie, according to a new indictment. The new 38-page indictment, issued May 20 and supervised by new special prosecutor Barry Barnette, accuses Quinn of 12 different counts of perjury and two counts of obstruction of justice. Until now, the indictment had not been publicized. The State newspaper obtained the public record from the State Grand Jury’s Office in Columbia. This indictment is modeled on a 33-page indictment from April 2019, issued by a former state grand jury and directed by former special prosecutor David Pascoe. The 2019 indictment had 11 perjury charges and one count of obstruction.”

“Both indictments detail secret payments of some $900,000 Quinn made to former state Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Richland, and the tens of thousands of dollars in a ‘kickback scheme’ to former state Sen. John Courson, R-Richland. The new indictments allege that Quinn committed perjury and lied about the payments to a state grand jury. The new indictment also charges Quinn with lying to the state grand jury about money his son, former state Rep. Rick Quinn, R-Lexington, received from the Quinn consulting firm, Richard Quinn & Associates. As a result of Pascoe’s investigation, Rick Quinn pleaded guilty to one act of misconduct and resigned from public office. A new count of perjury accuses Richard Quinn of lying to the state grand jury when asked about an email he sent to state Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office in 2014. That email suggested that Pascoe be told he could not investigate Quinn’s son, who had been accused in a confidential State Law Enforcement Division report of ‘numerous allegations… of official misconduct,’ the new indictment said. The allegations concerned the son’s practice of directing House Republican Caucus business to his own company while serving as the chamber’s House majority leader, the new indictment said. Richard Quinn’s attorney, Rauch Wise of Greenwood, said Thursday that he had not seen the new indictment and was learning of it through The State’s reporter. Wise had no immediate comment. ‘You would think the courteous thing to do would be to call the lawyer,’ Wise said” – Columbia State.