South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford to speak at 2:30PM

UPDATE: TIME CHANGE OF CONFERENCE - CHANGED TO 2:30PM DUE TO A LOT OF MEDIA IN ATTENDANCE.

Governor Sanford will be speaking to the media Wednesday at approx. 2:30 pm (EST) in his office. WSAV.com will cover the event live [WATCH VIDEO PLAYER BELOW AT 2:30PM].

Governor Sanford’s representative, Joel Sawyer, tells our sister station WCBD-TV 2 that the governor will hold a press conference and meet with reporters to answer questions at 2:30PM (EST) this afternoon.

The State newspaper in Columbia is reporting that Governor Mark Sanford was actually in Buenos Aires and not hiking on the Appalachian trail as his office told the press and state officials earlier this week.

A reporter met with the Governor in an Atlanta airport when he arrived back in the United States.

According to the Associated Press, Sanford said he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline.

When The State reporter asked Sanford at the airport why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, Sanford replied, “I don’t know.“

“I was lied to by his staff,“ says Bauer, “and I want to know why.“

Bauer calls Sanford’s trip to South America irresponsible.

“What if there had been some major emergency, like the wildfires we had in North Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago?“ says Bauer. “ When that happened, (state officials) were able to track him down and he made key decisions to spare people from major damage. If something like that had happened during this trip of his, who would have been in charge?“

South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler released the following statement today in response to recent developments in Governor Mark Sanford’s disappearance.

“It is the height of irresponsibility for the Governor to walk out on his solemn duty to the people of South Carolina, and to be completely out of touch without making arrangements for those responsibilities to be handled in his absence. When it comes to the real needs and concerns of South Carolinians, Mark Sanford has been pretty much missing in action for the last 6 and a half years. But it is not acceptable for him to be actually missing. However, as disturbing as it is to walk out on your responsibilities without telling anyone, what’s more troubling is that the Governor and his staff have been less than truthful about his whereabouts.“ said Fowler.

  WATCH (approx. 2:30PM EST.):