Republicans Call for Sanford's Resignation »

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (June 24) - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was with his family Thursday as legal and ethical questions swirled over his secret trip to see a woman in Argentina with whom he admitted an affair.

A top state Republican called for his resignation, and South Carolina's top senator questioned whether Sanford broke the law when he disappeared for several days on a trip to South America and didn't transfer power to the lieutenant governor.

Meanwhile, Argentina media identified the woman as Maria Belen Shapur, a 43-year-old who speaks English, Portuguese and Chinese. Her apartment building is near the Buenos Aires zoo, the Terra Argentina newspaper said (Note: the story is in Spanish.)
Glenn McCall, one of two national representatives to the Republican National Committee and a county party chairman, said Thursday that party members want Sanford out. He said Sanford should practice the philosophy he's preached of holding GOP leaders accountable.
"He talked about how our leaders have stepped away from our core values and said one thing on the campaign trail or out in the public and did something different in the background," McCall said. "I think our party can recover from this if we hold him accountable and the governor does the right thing and resigns for the sake of the party."
GOP Sen. Glenn McConnell, the state's top senator, said Sanford needed to answer questions about whether taxpayer money was used during the affair, but stopped short of calling for an investigation. Sanford's spokesman has said no state resources were used.

Sanford's wife, Jenny, said in a statement Wednesday that she had kicked him out two weeks ago and asked him not to speak to her while she came to terms with his infidelity, but spokesman Joel Sawyer said they were together at the family's beach house Thursday. The Sanfords have four sons.

"The governor is in Sullivans Island with his family," Sawyer said. "He's also going to be spending some time today and spent some time last night as well touching base with other elected officials."
Sanford was a three-term U.S. House veteran who once cited "moral legitimacy" when he was a congressman voting for President Bill Clinton's impeachment, but he has taken a swan dive from the moral high ground.

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