South Carolina Statehouse Blog

Lt. Gov Andre Bauer has taken a polygraph exam to refute accusations made against him last week by opponent Nikki Haley.
 
“I’m not willing to have that kind of false accusation go unchallenged,” Bauer said.  “She made a false accusation about me, and I wanted to prove that I was telling the truth.”
 
In a debate last week, Haley accused Bauer of being responsible for charges of marital infidelity against her.  Bauer denied the accusation, and challenged Haley to take side-by-side lie detector tests to prove who’s telling the truth.   Haley refused to take a lie detector test, but Bauer volunteered to submit to a polygraph test without her.
 
“The people have the right to know who’s telling the truth,” Bauer said.  “This is transparency in government.”
 
“How can the voters of South Carolina be expected to make informed decisions Tuesday with this giant cloud of doubt hanging over us,” Bauer said.   “I have done my part.  Now its up to others.”
 
Bauer said taking three hours from his campaign schedule for the polygraph was a distraction.  “But the people have a right to know who’s telling the truth.  And the people’s right to know is more important than a three hour distraction.”
 
“This is about protecting my integrity, and about the people’s right to know the truth,” said Bauer.
 
“The voters now know that I had absolutely nothing to do with the unfortunate revelations made about Ms. Haley in the last two weeks,” said Bauer. 
 
Sunday night, Bauer submitted to and passed an examination in Columbia, administered by an independent, FBI certified polygrapher.  The initial verbal report was issued at the conclusion of the exam, and the final written report is expected to be issued later Monday morning.  Later Monday, a second, independent certified polygrapher will review the polygraph charts to verify the result.
 
The final exam will be turned over to a Columbia TV Station which had earlier expressed interest in providing polygraph exams for others.
 
(NOTE:   Copies of report will be released when available.)