Mark Sanford: Another Blow to Republicans? | 06/25/2009 10:00 am
Mark Sanford's Sensual E-mail Exchanges With Argentinean Mistress Maria Belen Shapur Made Public (Video)
Hours after the South Carolina Republican governor apologizes to his wife, Jenny,
and four sons for affair, his lustful e-mails with mistress
emerge on The State website
Gov. Mark Sanford's Confession Video via NBC News
Hours after sun-kissed Gov. Mark Sanford made a very public confession that he left the country for five days without telling a soul to be with his Argentinean mistress, the sensual e-mails the South Carolina Republican exchanged with his lover are brought to light. E-mails obtained by The State newspaper in December are between a woman named Maria in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the governor — who once had his eye on a 2012 White House run. The series of e-mails date between July 4 - 10, 2008, and are posted online by The State newspaper. In an excerpt from one e-mail, the governor expresses deep chemistry.
From: Mark Sanford
To: Maria
Subject: RE:
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 00:24:54 -0400
Sweetest,
You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that is so fitting with your beauty. I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificently gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curves of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of night’s light — but hey, that would be going into the sexual details …When the e-mails were first obtained, Sanford’s spokespeople would not authenticate them. However, The State reports, the governor’s office Wednesday did not argue the authenticity.
Sanford and Jenny, his wife of 20 years, reportedly separated two weeks ago and she has known about Sanford’s extramarital interest since December. Jenny is a former Wall Street executive and has helped Sanford manage all his campaigns.
Politico reports that Sanford has taken at least three taxpayer-paid trips to Argentina — but it’s unclear whether he met with his lover during any of them. For this latest trip, Sanford told reporters that he used his own money to pay for his plane ticket.
Argentinean media reveal a bit more information about the alleged mistress. Her name is María Belén Shapur, age 43, and The State believes she has two children.
For 18 emotional minutes, the 49-year-old governor apologizes
profusely to his wife and four sons, who had no clue where he was. Watch:
Humans are far from perfect, we know. But tell us: Why do people in power (and in the public eye) cheat … and think that they can get away with it?
Read more about: Affairs, Argentina, Divorce, Infidelity, Love, Mark Sanford, Marriage, Mistress, News, Politics, Relationships, Scandal, Style, Video
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233 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
DeBurca, dont they all lie until there caught? This man is no different then Clinton with his many affairs and lies…they are all scum for breaking their vows to their wives and also to themselves and to their people. Just b/c he is a Republican doesnt make it any worse or less awful…the act of cheating is just wrong no matter who you are, what you do. Its wrong…
Clinton had a happy home, or so we thought, until his affairs.
the hypocrisy lies in the fact that this man told others how to lead their lives based on morality. he used the word Sacred a lot when speaking about marriage, and how gays can’t get married because of the SANCTITY of marriage.
all while he is cheating on his poor wife who bore him 4 sons - he didn’t even tell his wife and kids where he was going.
hypocrisy is when you tell others that marriage is sacred and that they can’t marry, while you are cheating on your wife.
that is why republican cheaters are more hypocritical than democrats - republicans have the balls to tell you how to live your life and legislate morality, all while they are breaking their own rules.
DeBurca, you are an intelligent woman and as such you KNOW that all republicans do not think alike. This man shot himself in his political feet and he won’t recover from it. My point is that a governor, mayor, etc. aren’t held to the same standards as a president when it comes to situations like this.
When we have a President who engages in infidelity it is worse. And, if you don’t think it is, it is only because you wouldn’t agree with anything a republican says.
Sanford had an affair….he isn’t the President of the United States. President Kennedy had his affairs which came out after his assassination.
What I KNOW is that the Republican Party calls itself the party of family values and tries to get votes as such and is fighting gay marriage based upon religious ‘sanctity of marriage’ arguments. Hypocrisy to the limits.
Sanford voted for impeachment of Clinton due to his affair, and the cheaters, Gingrich and Henry Hyde led the pack. Also a vocal critic of Clinton’s infidelity was Larry Craig, and we all know about him.
Neither Bill Clinton or John F Kennedy ran on a moral values platform nor did they hold their Christian values up as a reason to be elected.
If you don’t see the difference you never will.
So, people who are for "family values" never get a 1) divorce 2) have an affair 3) come out of the closet because if they do they are worse than democrats who do the same thing?
Make some sense for me, Deburca. Please.
"Somebody" needs to believe in family values or we will end up becoming a disgusting, decadent society. Don’t you want "good family values" as a model for your children?
Family values is a good thing. It is the necessary structure needed to raise children in a solid environment…giving them a model to work from.
Those high moral values are the foundation of this beautiful country.
DeBurca: John F Kennedy
Who doesn’t remember the photos of the Kennedy wedding in a Newport Catholic Church? His children were baptized, his mother never missed a daily Mass if she could help it. What kind of an image do you think he was portraying? Let’s be honest, every Catholic in America fell for Camelot and the beautiful family pictures. Kennedy wrapped himself in goodness and light, when in reality he was carrying on a disgusting lifestyle.
deber: President Kennedy had his affairs which came out after his assassination.
His "friends" wore out the back stairs of the White House. That was an ongoing, steady flow.
Even FDR had a close friend. This goes on all the time. The only recent guys I’m pretty sure were faithful to their wives while in the White House were the two Bushes (father and son), Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.