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Crangle Leads “Money & Power: The Story of Operation Lost Trust”

|Dr. Crangle will draw from his new book

Last updated October 27, 2016

By Tina Underwood

The Furman University Political Science Department will host a public forum on campaign finance and lobbying reform Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Watkins Room of the Trone Student Center on the Furman campus.

The forum, “Money & Power: The Story of Operation Lost Trust” is free and open to the public. It is part of Furman’s Cultural Life Program.

Dr. Crangle will draw from his new book, "Operation Lost Trust"

Dr. Crangle will draw from his new book, “Operation Lost Trust”

Operation Lost Trust was the worst public corruption scandal in the history of South Carolina in which a total of 17 state legislators were convicted of corruption and narcotics violations along with six lobbyists, one judge, and two executive branch officials.

The program will begin with a presentation by Dr. John Crangle who draws from his new book Operation Lost Trust: The Ethics Reform Movement, which describes the scandal and the struggle to pass the 1991 Ethics Act. At the time, the 1991 Ethics Act was one of the most restrictive campaign finance and lobbying laws in the United States.

Executive Director of Common Cause/South Carolina, Crangle led the fight to pass the Ethics Act. Crangle is a lawyer who teaches public ethics law at the USC Law School in Columbia.

The program will be moderated by Furman Political Science Professor Glen Halva-Neubauer. Former Secretary of State, Jim Miles, and retired judge and former state senator, Sam Stilwell, will discuss their roles in promoting ethics reform in the wake of the scandal.

Miles was elected in 1990 by campaigning against the incumbent Secretary of State on an ethics reform platform promising to deal aggressively with corrupt and out-of-control lobbyists who dominated the State House by bribing legislators.

Stilwell served on the six-person legislative conference committee which successfully struggled to draft the 1991 Ethics Act, which passed the General Assembly by massive majorities.

Members of the audience are invited to participate in the discussion with questions and comments. Crangle will be signing books following the event for those who wish to purchase a copy of Operation Lost Trust: The Ethics Reform Movement.

For further information, contact Glen Halva-Neubauer, Furman University Political Science Department at (864) 294-3608 or glen.halva-neubauer@furman.edu. John Crangle can be reached at (803) 743-7125.

 

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