SC Gov. Mark Sanford Accused Of Being Behind Bauer "Gay Smear" Campaign

SC GOP state Sen. Jake Knotts claims that Gov. Mark Sanford, angered over Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer's calls for his resignation, is the person behind Bauer's recent outing by gay blogger Mike Rogers.

"As a former target of a false rumor started by the Sanford Camp I can tell you with absolute certainty this attack was orchestrated on behalf of Mark Sanford, either directly or indirectly, and financially subsidized by him or one of his many 'front-groups,'" Knotts wrote. The letter was first reported by "The Palmetto Scoop," a South Carolina political Web site. Knotts, an ally of Bauer and a fierce opponent of Sanford, said there is no truth to the gay rumors that have dogged Bauer for years. "I have known Andre since he was eight years old," Knotts told CNN. "Ain't a homosexual bone in his body. That boy is a good boy. It's a just an attempt to prevent Andre from become governor."

"Ain't a homosexual bone in his body." At this moment, perhaps.

Mike Rogers denies Knotts' allegation:

“I don’t know anyone in Mark Sanford’s office,” Rogers told Free Times Sept. 3 while in a Washington, D.C. taxi cab. “I don’t know anybody on Mark Sanford’s political team. I don’t know anything about Mark Sanford except what’s been out there in the public and in the press.” Rogers says he has a 100 percent record with outing closeted politicians with anti-gay agendas, and he works his sources like any reporter would. “I know where these people work who are my sources,” he says about the ones regarding Bauer. “They don’t work in any political realm.”