As noted earlier, Sanford went to Buenos Aires on a trade mission in June 2008. The picture shows him with Daniel Scioli, the governor of Buenos Aires.
Sanford has now issued a statement saying he will reimburse the state for travel costs as, of course, it turns out he had a dalliance during the trip with the woman now identified by media outlets as Maria Belen Shapur, 43 (alleged photos here).
This makes sense as the timeline fits the tenor and content of the emails obtained by The State.
Politico has the story:
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Sanford said "while the purpose of this trip was an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with. That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip."
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Sanford spent an additional day and night in Buenos Aires before the rest of the delegates arrived, the Commerce Department revealed in a statement to POLITICO.
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The trade delegation "did not accompany the Governor to the meetings in Argentina," according to the statement, which said that Sanford was "accompanied by a project manager from the Department of Commerce." That is "standard practice for meetings with public officials and prospective companies," said Borie, who provided POLITICO with an undated photograph of Sanford and Buenos Aires Gov. Daniel Scioli, which she said was taken during a June 26 meeting between the two men.
Update: South Carolina's Department of Commerce spent more than $8,000 on the trip. Washington Post says $9,000.
