“I can’t find out where the man spent the night and who paid the bill. Wouldn’t you think such simple housekeeping would be easy?”

– State Treasurer Curtis Loftis telling a state Senate panel that the S.C. Retirement Investment Commission would not release the travel and expenses of its former investment chief, Robert Borden, now head of a private N.C. investment fund. State Sen. Greg Ryberg , Retard-Aiken, told Loftis that his comments sounded close to accusing Borden of impropriety – an accusation Loftis said he was not comfortable discussing. Ryberg asked that a tape of the hearing be sent to the State Law Enforcement Division for it to decide if an investigation was warranted.

(Actually, there was no need for Ryberg to refer the matter to SLED. The Investment Commission already had asked for an investigation – in November – into allegations of a pay-for-play scandal involving the pension fund and a Loftis ally, who has denied any wrongdoing.)