David Pascoe

David Michael Pascoe (born March 2, 1967) is an American lawyer serving as the First Circuit Solicitor in the state of South Carolina since 2005.

The First Circuit comprises Dorchester, Calhoun, and Orangeburg counties.

He served as assistant state prosecutor from 1993 to 2005 successfully trying over 200 violent crimes.

Included in those prosecutions is a "no body" case in which the Defendant was convicted of murder even though the victim's body was never found.

He earned a reputation as being a hard line prosecutor on violent crimes but progressive in dealing with juvenile offenders and non-violent offenders.

Pascoe is a Democrat who rarely gets involved in other candidate's elections, believing prosecutors should stay out of politics.

Joe Biden is the only candidate Pascoe has ever endorsed.

After taking office in 2005, Pascoe immediately put a plan together to aggressively combat violent crime in the circuit while at the same time establishing a progressive agenda to curb juvenile crime.

He implemented a number of new programs.

He recruited churches and organizations to start a Youth Mentor Program.

The First Circuit Solicitor's Youth Mentor Program was recognized by the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice as the 2011 Diversion Program of the Year.

Pascoe also implemented the Circuit's first youth and adult drug court programs.

Pascoe continues to garner his reputation as being tough on violent offenders and successfully convicted and received death sentences on two murderers, Mikal Mahdi and Kenneth Justus.

Pascoe served as President of the South Carolina Solicitor's Association from 2011 to 2013.

On December 5, 2013, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) submitted an investigative report to the Office of the Attorney General regarding the conduct of South Carolina Speaker of the House of Representatives Robert "Bobby" Harrell.

A State Grand Jury case was initiated on the basis of the SLED report.

Counsel for Speaker Harrell moved to have Attorney General Alan Wilson recused from the case.

Pascoe accepted Attorney General Alan Wilson's designation as special prosecutor in the matter prior to a judge ruling on the recusal motion.

On September 10, 2014, Pascoe indicted Speaker Harrell for multiple violations of state ethics laws.

Speaker Harrell was removed from office on October 22, 2014, and received a sentence of three years probation after pleading guilty to six counts of misuse of campaign funds.

On October 1, 2014, Pascoe sent an email to Attorney General Wilson referencing the December SLED report and stating that he believed legislators named in the report should be investigated as part of a corruption probe.

Approximately nine months later on July 17, 2015, the Attorney General's Office requested SLED forward the report to Pascoe for a prosecutive decision.

In 2016, Pascoe won a Supreme Court case against the South Carolina Attorney General where the Attorney General attempted to remove Pascoe as the special prosecutor in a corruption probe involving the General Assembly.

Pascoe oversaw the investigation and secured convictions on five powerful South Carolina General Assembly members that included the House speaker, President Pro Tem of the Senate, Chairman of the House Judiciary, and two former House Majority Leaders.

Pascoe is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of The Citadel and the University of South Carolina School of Law.

In March 2016, Pascoe and SLED Chief Mark Keel referred the case to the State Grand Jury by signing a case initiation form.

Shortly thereafter, a dispute arose in which the Attorney General's Office claimed that Pascoe did not have the authority to initiate a State Grand Jury investigation, and that only the elected Attorney General could legally sign the initiation form.

The Attorney General then sent an e-mail to Pascoe purporting to fire him from the case.

In an unprecedented move, Pascoe filed a petition for declaratory judgement with the South Carolina Supreme Court seeking a declaration that the Attorney General recused himself from the case and vested authority in Pascoe to conduct the investigation.

Pascoe argued the case himself while the Attorney General's Office retained the law firm of Nelson Mullins to argue on its behalf.

The case was heard by the South Carolina Supreme Court on June 16, 2016, and the Court ruled in favor of Pascoe, holding that a strict interpretation requiring the personal signature of the elected office holder "would lead to an absurd result."

The Court also gave Pascoe the "full authority to act as the Attorney General for purposes of the investigation."

Pascoe and SLED proceeded to thoroughly investigate two legislators who had served previously as House Majority Leaders, Representatives James "Jimmy" Merrill and Richard "Rick" Quinn Jr. Throughout the course of the grand jury investigation, Pascoe and his team discovered criminal conduct by other legislators as well as a political consulting firm associated with these legislators.

Pascoe faced numerous challenges by targets of the investigation who sought to remove him, however, Pascoe prevailed in each courtroom battle.

These discoveries, as well as other findings and conclusions, were summarized in a comprehensive grand jury report issued by the State Grand Jury on June 21, 2018.

The investigation is often referred to as "Pascoe's corruption probe," though Pascoe has only referred to it as the "State Grand Jury's investigation".

The investigation resulted in conviction and removal from office of some of South Carolina's most powerful legislators.

He endorsed Vice President Joe Biden for President on January 23, 2020.

In his endorsement, Pascoe stated that he had personally known the Vice President for over a decade and "that he is the most decent man I have ever met in American politics".

Pascoe was considered to be one of the frontrunners to become the U.S. Attorney for South Carolina under the Biden administration.