Governor Mark Sanford held a press conference just now apologizing for having an affair with a “dear, dear friend in Argentina.” That’s where he was when he disappeared for five days earlier this week. “I’ve been unfaithful to my wife,” Sanford said, explaining that the relationship developed through an exchange of e-mails. He apologized to his wife, Jenny — noting over the past twenty years “how closely she has stood by my side” — and to his sons. “One of my primary roles before being a governor is to be a father to those four boys,” he said. He says that his wife had known about this “for about the last five months.” He also apologized to his staff for providing a fictional account of where he’d been for the past few days. Sanford will also resign as head of the Republican Governors Association. He broke down in tears at one point when speaking of the friends who had helped him to try to get through this.
Update: Sanford just said he’d known the woman for eight years, but the relationship had only become serious in the past twelve months. He’s seen her three times since then. “I spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina,” he said. Side note: He must have been crying on the beach, because he still has a hell of a tan.
