Nikki Haley & Blogger Will Folks Affair?

Republican Nikki Haley, who is hoping to succeed Mark Sanford as South Carolina governor, is denying an affair claim by Republican blogger and former Sanford aide Will Folks that the two engaged in an "inappropriate physical relationship" several years ago, before he was married.

Nikki Haley said "I have been 100 percent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage," Haley said in a statement released to a local television station. "This claim against me is categorically and totally false."

Is the affair between Nikki Haley & Blogger Will true? Who is this blogger Will Folks and what is the address of his blog?

Will Folks wrote at his blog fitsnews.com that he decided to come forward about his affair with Nikki Haley because "within the last forty-eight hours several pieces of information which purportedly document a prior physical relationship between myself and Rep. Haley have begun to be leaked slowly, piece by piece, to members of the mainstream media. I am told that at least one story based upon this information will be published this week."

She noted that the timing of the "disgraceful smear" -- less than a week after a poll showed her leading the field in a June 8 primary -- was suspicious; "It is quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst."

Haley, a one-time protege of disgraced Gov. Mark Sanford, had been riding high of late -- benefiting from endorsements from South Carolina First Lady Jenny Sanford and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Will Folks, a former spokesman for Mark Sanford, pleaded guilty to domestic violence a few years ago. He was also the target of intense enmity in Columbia for reportedly working with Sanford on a project to oust recalcitrant Republican incumbents — and of intense scrutiny. One South Carolina source points out this clip, in which a reporter jokes with Folks about digging through his trash.

Haley, a 38-year-old mother of two, issued the following statement on Monday:

"I have been 100 percent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage. This claim against me is categorically and totally false. It is quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst."

Folks said he decided to go public with the affair after being targeted by Haley's political opponents, who were slowly leaking out the news "while simultaneously forcing either evasive answers or denials on my part or on Nikki's part."

Since Folks was considered to be one of her supporters, and said he was only coming clean to prevent her from being smeared by a whisper campaign, the whole thing is very weird and high-schooly. Nobody even knows if Haley has ever visited the Appalachian Trail.

In the June 8 GOP primary, Haley is taking on state Attorney General Henry McMaster, Rep. Gresham Barrett, and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.

Of course, it was the term-limited Sanford's affair with an Argentina woman that essentially rendered him a lame-duck governor.