GOP official arrested for 'robo-calls'

State agents have arrested Aiken County GOP treasurer Ginny Allen on allegations she orchestrated a number of automated phone calls the day before the state's primary, falsely claiming ties to Sen. Greg Ryberg.

Virginia Allen, 47, of the 100 block of Driftwood Circle in Aiken, is charged with six counts of making unsolicited consumer phone calls. She was booked at the Aiken County detention center Monday and let out on her own personal recognizance.

Allen is accused of paying to have political "robo-calls" made to Aiken County residents in early June without properly disclosing the person behind the calls, according to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents.

Allen said she could not discuss the charges or the case in detail.

"I'm consulting with an attorney, and I'm working with SLED," she said.

Investigators say she manipulated the caller ID to reflect the number of "REI, Incorporated," a business owned and operated by Ryberg but did not have the senator's verbal or written consent to do so. The day after the June 9 calls were made, Ryberg contacted state agents to investigate the political tactics he called "desperate."

The calls endorsed Ryberg for the District 24 Senate seat and Aiken County Councilman Scott Singer for the S.C. House District 81 seat. Ryberg handily beat North Augusta City Councilman Jason Whinghter in that race, but Singer later lost in a run-off with Tom Young.

All of the men deny any knowledge or involvement in the calling scheme.

The benefactor of the calls seems to be still unclear to some, said Aiken County GOP chairman Dennis Saylor.

"It looks more like a personal loss for her than a gain for anybody," Saylor said after hearing of the arrest on Tuesday.

He said the GOP did not endorse any specific candidate in the primary and knew nothing of the calls until after they were made and received.

"It had nothing to do with the party. If it pans out that she did it, it was done on her own," he said.

GOP Board members will discuss her appointment as treasurer to determine what action, if any, will be taken against her. He said members are allowed to participate in political races, although they are not permitted to use their name or association with the Aiken County GOP.

Allen volunteered with Jason Whinghter's campaign.

Whinghter said she and a couple of other key volunteers outlined how to do things during the campaign and whom to talk to; however, Whinghter said Allen wasn't directly involved in the campaigning, per se.

"I'm pretty disappointed. ... It looks like I'm tied into this," he said. "I'm mad and disappointed. I certainly wouldn't have run a campaign this way."

Regarding a previous political gaffe made by Allen in 2004, Whinghter said he'd known her a long time and thought she had moved beyond what happened.

In September 2004, Allen, while working as the director of operations for Sen. Jim DeMint's U.S. Senate campaign, was responding to an e-mail request from the SCRA Rainbow Alliance when she inadvertently sent the Rainbow Alliance chairwoman an e-mail intended for someone within the DeMint campaign.

Allen wrote that the chairwoman was a "dike."

Allen stayed on with the campaign but received a written reprimand from DeMint.

"When people are helping you ... I thought the time had passed long enough ago that (her mistake in the DeMint campaign) was not as much of an issue," Whinghter said. "I thought she had gotten things straight."

The most recent allegations against Allen accuse her of paying more than $300 by credit card to an out-of-state vendor, which is why Singer said he would be surprised to learn she acted alone in the scheme.

"As I said at the time I had nothing to do with the calls and was looking forward to the person or persons being brought to justice," he said. "I am glad an arrest was made and I think that person needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law ... and I hope and am confident they will bring all parties forward."

He said he believes the calls impacted the race.

The phone message encouraged residents to vote for Ryberg and Singer but also stated that District 81 incumbent Skipper Perry, who didn't seek re-election, didn't "team" with Ryberg, a claim both Ryberg and Perry later took issue with.

"That gets Skipper's people upset and gets them mad at Scott Singer since (I'm) getting all the accolades in this call," Singer said. "And if you don't like Greg Ryberg, you won't like Scott Singer then either."

He said Ryberg's race against Whinghter was not as tight and, therefore, any repercussions in Ryberg's race did not have the same impact as those in his much tighter race.

"Do I think it hurt? Yes. I think it did," Singer said. "But it's not something folks won't eventually get over based on deeds and actions; it's not irreparable damage."

Making unsolicited consumer phone calls is a misdemeanor punishable up to 30 days in jail and/or fines.

Contact Karen Daily at kdaily@aikenstandard.com.