SC Dem aiming for Tim Scott’s seat asks for campaign audit after ‘dope money’ prison call

South Carolina Rep. Krystal Matthews, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, apologized to Democrats Thursday over the recent leak of a controversial prison phone call and invited the Federal Election Committee to audit her campaign.

“I’m grateful to have as one of my mentors Rep. (Gilda) Cobb-Hunter. She has helped me see how some may have been offended by my words. And for that, I apologize. I apologize for my language in this private conversation and for offending my fellow Democrats,” Matthews told reporters outside of the State House. “I have also made a formal request with the FEC asking them to audit my campaign, because I have absolutely nothing to hide.”

Matthews found herself the subject of controversy right before Tuesday’s runoff election after a phone call with a South Carolina inmate was leaked on social media by Project Veritas, a right-wing organization known for secretly taping progressive politicians, reporters and others, and editing the tapes to show them in an unflattering light.

In two minutes of the 40-minute call, provided to The State, Matthews told the inmate she hoped drug dealers would contribute to her Senate campaign using family members’ names and suggested Democrats run as “secret sleepers” in Republican primaries.

The call could result in a House ethics investigation. In a letter released Tuesday by House Ethics Committee Chairman Jay Jordan, R-Florence, Jordan wrote, “when the committee receives verified information the committee has a statutory and rule process for handling complaints against a member for a violation of the SC Ethics Act.”

Matthews also used her press conference to ask for apologies from others.

She called on her opponent, Scott, to, in part, apologize for voting against Ketanji Brown Jackson for U.S. Supreme Court. Jackson was sworn in Thursday, succeeding retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

Matthews also called for Republicans to apologize for allowing Republican superintendent nominee Ellen Weaver to remain on the ballot despite lacking the credentials. Weaver has said she plans to get her master’s degree from Bob Jones University by the November election. And she “extended a welcome” to whoever leaked the prison phone call, saying it violated the inmate’s privacy and potentially violated his civil rights.

Matthews told reporters she doesn’t know or have ideas about who leaked the call made public over the weekend.

“I do not know how the call got leaked. But I am really putting pressure on them to do the research to find out. We need an investigation to find out how this call was leaked,” Matthews said.

Matthews said she has requested an investigations, and said the South Carolina Department of Corrections is looking into the call.

A representative with the FEC told The State they weren’t able to immediately confirm whether they’d received a formal request from Matthews’ campaign.

Matthews talks ground game ahead of November election

Matthews faces Republican Scott in November after she won Tuesday’s primary runoff election.

Matthews beat Catherine Fleming Bruce, an activist and author, from Columbia, with nearly 56% to Bruce’s nearly 44%.

The Berkeley County lawmaker is a single mother of five, and has been a South Carolina representative since 2018, representing the areas of Ladson, North Charleston and Goose Creek. She also is an engineering planner for Boeing.

Matthews told reporters Thursday she plans to build out her staff and has seen an outpouring of support from voters.

“I am so excited to be able to launch a statewide county initiative to roll out our ground games in each one of those counties going forward to get our election started rolling in a smooth direction,” Matthews said.

She concluded the conference by reaffirming her statement about not setting out to campaign against Scott’s sizeable campaign war chest. He’s raised $44 million for his campaign, with $24 million still left over, according to federal filings. Matthews has raised nearly $105,000 this cycle.

“I stand on that. Money does not win elections, people who vote win elections,” Matthews said. “And so our ground game and our grassroots plan to get out and really talk with people. It’s proving to be quite effective as you’ve already seen.”