Rep. Nancy Mace accuses ex-fiancé, associates of assaulting her, raping others in Home speech

Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina on Monday used a virtually hour-long speech on the U.S. Home flooring to accuse her ex-fiancé of bodily abusing her, recording intercourse acts together with her and others with out their consent, and conspiring with enterprise associates in acts of rape and sexual misconduct.

Mace stated she was talking out as a result of her residence state’s prime prosecutor didn’t take motion even after she alerted investigators. That very same prosecutor is more likely to be Mace’s opponent if she runs for governor of South Carolina in 2026, which she is contemplating.

Saying she was going “scorched earth,” Mace detailed how, in November 2023, she says she “by chance uncovered among the most heinous crimes towards ladies possible. We’re speaking about rape, non-consensual images, non-consensual movies of ladies and underage women, and the premeditated, calculated exploitation of ladies and women in my district.”

Mace talked about 4 males as being concerned, together with Charleston-area businessman Patrick Bryant, who was her fiancé till 2023 and went door-to-door stumping for her throughout her 2022 reelection marketing campaign.

The AP wasn’t capable of independently confirm Mace’s claims. Bryant advised AP: “I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter significantly and can cooperate totally with any essential authorized processes to clear my identify.”

Mace accused South Carolina Legal professional Common Alan Wilson of slow-walking any investigation of Bryant and the opposite males after she introduced the images and video to state authorities.

“Did South Carolina’s legal professional common have any of those predators indicted after being supplied clear cut-and-dry proof together with video, images and witnesses?” Mace requested, noting that her workplace had stood up a tip line for anybody with data on the allegations.

In an announcement after Mace’s speech, Wilson’s workplace referred to as her feedback concerning the prosecutor’s conduct “categorically false” and stated the workplace “has not obtained any stories or requests for help from any legislation enforcement or prosecution companies concerning these issues.”

Mace, a former South Carolina state Home member, was the primary girl to graduate from The Citadel, the state’s army school, the place her father then served as commandant of cadets. Briefly serving within the state Home, in 2020 she turned the primary Republican girl elected to symbolize South Carolina in Congress, flipping the first District after a single time period with a Democratic consultant.

Her resolution to air the allegations in a flooring speech was uncommon. In a launch, Mace harassed that members’ statements on the Home flooring “are quintessential ‘legislative acts’” and thereby protected by the “speech or debate” clause, which usually protects lawmakers from being sued for what they are saying.

“This isn’t a narrative about bitter ex-girlfriends or consensual intercourse tapes — there are many these. I don’t care what two consenting adults comply with do,” Mace stated. She talked about a dozen payments on which she had labored within the Home, on matters starting from stopping voyeurism to banning transgender ladies from utilizing ladies’s bogs on the U.S. Capitol or Home workplace buildings.

In 2019, Mace spoke publicly for the primary time a few sexual assault she stated had occurred greater than 20 years earlier, addressing South Carolina legislative colleagues in advocating for including a rape and incest exception to a state Home ban on all abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat.

On Monday, Mace stated she was joined within the Home gallery by a number of ladies she stated had been victimized by Bryant and the opposite males. Among the many Republican lawmakers who sat behind Mace throughout her speech to point out their assist have been Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo, and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.

“Nancy Mace is our buddy and we needed to assist her and provides her the encouragement she wanted to get that message out,” Boebert stated.

Mace, 47, gained a 3rd U.S. Home time period in November and has stated that she is “significantly contemplating” a 2026 run for South Carolina governor. If she enters that race, she’s going to probably face Wilson — in his fourth time period and likewise the son of Rep. Joe Wilson — within the Republican main.

Mace has largely supported President Donald Trump, working for his 2016 marketing campaign however levying criticism towards him following the Jan. 6, 2021, violence on the U.S. Capitol, critique that spurred Trump to again a GOP challenger in her 2022 race. Mace defeated that opponent, gained reelection and was endorsed by Trump in her 2024 marketing campaign.

Mace declined further remark to reporters within the Capitol after the speech. Requested how she felt now, she stated: “I’m at peace.”

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Related Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed.

Kinnard could be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP