A year or so ago, I was driving around Charleston with a member of the S.C. General Assembly, talking about various people, problems and politics in the State House. My friend is a long-time legislator and one of the most decent and honorable public servants I know.
As we topped the Ravenel Bridge, I asked him, “Is Jim Merrill a crook?” After a long pause, he said, “That is a question of law that must be determined by the courts…. But he is extremely bold.”