Lawyers for one of the four men accused of rape and voyeurism by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace demanded the congresswoman, and
potential GOP candidate for governor, retract her statements or provide evidence of wrongdoing.
Eric Bland and Ronald Richter, who are attorneys for Brian Musgrave of Fort Mill,
sent Mace a letter Thursday, saying they intend to sue Mace for defamation unless she retracts her statements made in a
Feb. 10 speech from the House floor, or provides evidence that links their client to the alleged crimes.
Bland and Richter gave Mace 10 days to provide evidence or issue an apology, or face legal action.
Mace in her speech said she uncovered evidence including nonconsensual photos and videos of women and underage girls undressed, a video of the rape of an unconscious woman and video of herself naked. She said the videos were shared by four men, one of whom is her ex-fiance, Patrick Bryant, who is Musgrave’s business partner.
“You upended Brian’s life when you accused him falsely of being a rapist, a predator and a sex trafficker,” Bland and Richter wrote. “He is none of those things.”
In her speech, Mace said a hidden camera on a property co-owned by Bryant and Musgrave had more than 10,000 videos on it.
Musgrave co-owns a beach condo with Bryant, where Bryant had a camera in plain view on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen to make sure children did not gain access to the liquor cabinet, Bland and Richter said.
Bland and Richter said Musgrave did not own the camera, didn’t have the password for the camera, did not have the ability to access it digitally, view its content or record anything with it.
Mace’s office declined to comment and referred back to her Feb. 10 speech. She named all four men on the House floor where she is protected by the speech and debate clause of the U.S. Constitution. Since the speech the speech, Mace has shared clips of her remarks on social media.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
has only confirmed an investigation into Bryant, but none of the other three men named by Mace. The State newspaper is not identifying the other two men.
Bryant has denied any wrongdoing and his ex-wife has publicly defended him and Musgrave.
“I firmly believe Nancy’s allegations against both men are entirely baseless,” Beth Johnston posted on Facebook. “Nancy claims she wants to protect women and children, yet she showed no concern for ours when she was spouting lies under her alleged congressional immunity.”
SLED said its investigation is active and ongoing.
“At this time, there is no additional information to provide,” SLED spokeswoman Renee Wunderlich said in a text message to The State.
