“Wednesday’s arrest and now federal indictment of State Representative R.J. May, a founding member of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus and a rising star in Republican politics, is alarming. May was charged today with 10 counts of distributing child sexual abuse material. 

While Speaker Murrell Smith is required to suspend any state representative indicted for certain crimes immediately, lawmakers are only forced to lose their seats upon conviction.  

But this moment is about more than one man. It’s about a culture. A Republican political machine that propped up R.J. May, promoted him, and protected him. The people of South Carolina deserve answers:

• Where does Governor McMaster stand now, after years of aligning himself with R.J. May?

• Will Congresswoman Nancy Mace speak up against one of her own and for the victims of child sexual exploitation?

• What did Lt. Governor Pamela Evette know? And when did she know it?

• And why didn’t Attorney General Alan Wilson, the state’s top law enforcement officer and son of Congressman Joe Wilson, uncover this?

South Carolinians deserve leaders who uphold justice, not shield predators. They deserve accountability, not silence. And they deserve a government that puts the safety of children above the ambitions of extremists.

South Carolina Republican leaders have a choice to make. Will they finally put the people of this state first, or will they once again circle the wagons to protect one of their own?

We’ll be watching. And we won’t forget.”