Time for embattled South Carolina state treasurer Curtis Loftis to go? | Opinion

South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis has shrouded the state treasury in so much mystery that Benoit Blanc might be the only sleuth who could suss out the truth of it. The famous southern detective from the films “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” — “the world’s greatest” — is actually less of a character than Loftis, who ended our first interview 30 minutes after meeting me in his office, having blamed everyone but himself for a scandal that has dogged him since last year. He insulted a half dozen state senators who had questioned him in a long, combative hearing this month, arguing they “have no obligations to tell the truth,” and then insulted me and my profession, saying, “There’s no obligation for any journalist to check their facts.”

When I respectfully suggested that a) gravitas and b) the good stewardship of public funds would go a long way toward changing everyone’s perceptions, he said, “I”m just not going to meet your qualifications…. You and I aren’t going to have a meeting of the minds.”

We’d known each other for 20 minutes. Our conversation went downhill from there as I sought to understand his recent actions.

Loftis manages $70 billion in state funds. At one point, he told me, flatly, “You’re never gonna understand.” I respectfully replied that I would. I’ve become quite good at investigating and explaining complex issues over 30 years as a journalist, including in California, where the state treasurer manages $3 trillion in bank transactions in a fiscal year.

It was last year when Loftis began to wear out his welcome and whittle away at his reputation after state politicians learned about $1.8 billion sitting in a state bank account with no idea where the money came from or what to do with it. It’s a big question with profound implications.

A Senate panel led by Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, is investigating the mess. Tuesday, Grooms dropped a bombshell: Loftis had planned to publish “highly sensitive” information two weeks ago that included a list of state agency funds and their cash balances, which in turn would have made the state more vulnerable to a cyberattack. Grooms said it calls into question Loftis’ “judgment and temperament.” Loftis said the senator’s criticism is “contrived” and said he never intended to or would have put the state at risk. But in an unacceptably irresponsible gambit, his threatened release became a high-stakes game of chicken that ended when Gov. Henry McMaster, six hours after having knee surgery, called Loftis and asked him to stand down. Other top officials were poised to intervene.

Grooms thinks Loftis, first elected in 2010, should resign. He has a point. Loftis may not just be a distraction but a danger. But then he emailed me Wednesday night with his phone number, and apologized “man to man” when I called him Thursday, sounding every bit the Southern gentleman. He said he has high blood pressure and health concerns, which caused him to pass out in his office the week before, led his staff to drive him home Wednesday, and had him working from home the rest of the week while “new meds take effect.”

I accepted his apology and offered sympathy for his health, and I tried to continue the conversation he cut short the day before. But when I brought up the calls for him to resign and asked him if he would consider that given his health, the harsh spotlight on him and his publicly announced plan not to seek re-election in 2026, he called the question “completely unfair.”

It’s not, but I’m willing to give Loftis some time as Gov. Henry McMaster has.

The governor has given him and other state officials until July 1 to get to the bottom of the $1.8 billion. When I asked McMaster this week if having Loftis in those discussions wasn’t like having a fox make dinner plans with hens, he said no, because there are other “unbiased” people looking into the issue.

I can wait a couple months for answers. But if Loftis can’t stay composed, let alone healthy, and if he can’t set the record straight so that everyone understands it, it will be time to step aside.

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