As South Carolina neared its 2020 presidential primary, a colleague and I uncovered that the head of South Carolina’s Legislative Black Caucus received more than $40,000 from the Tom Steyer campaign. The payments lead to a major controversy at the State House — which even made its way to the debate stage — as black lawmakers accused another lawmaker who tweeted about the payments of a pattern of racist actions. Later, I uncovered that caucus also received a payment from the Steyer campaign.
SC lawmaker gets paid thousands from 2020 presidential hopeful’s campaign
Black SC lawmakers accuse senator of racial attacks for questions about Steyer payments
SC caucus whose members attacked critic of Steyer payments also got paid by Steyer