title:  BUSTED: South Carolina Trump Adviser Gets Slapped With 30 Counts Of Ethics Violations
text: We can probably expect more Donald Trump lackies to be hit with ethics violations over the next four years.South Carolina GOP state Rep. Jim Merrill was hired by Trump in 2015 to serve as an adviser for his campaign in the notoriously conservative state.Predictably, Trump ended up winning the state. But Merrill is about to win a trip to prison after prosecutor David Pascoe officially charged him with 30 counts of ethics violations and misconductAccording to The State, Merrill is being accused of using his political office to receive over $1 million through his company, Greechie Communications, or directly.Merrill is accused of failing to disclose contributions and expenditures made to and from the House GOP Caucus operating account and improperly using that account for campaign purposes. That failure allowed Merrill to collect $164,564 from the House Republican Caucus without without accountability between Jan. 1, 2005 and Dec. 31, 2008, according to prosecutors.Merrill is charged with using his office for financial gain as a House member for receiving $108,169 to Geechie Communications from the GOP caucus just from Jan. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2011.He is accused of using his position from 2005-2008 while serving as House GOP leader to direct $82,515 from the caucus to his PR firm.In addition, the indictment alleges Merrill directed $186,332 from the caucus to Geechie Communications, in excess of the fair market value for services it rendered between 2008 and 2010.In addition, Merrill  illegally received payments totaling at least $276,561 from the S.C. House Republican Caucus  through multiple accountsAnd those are just the tip of the iceberg.As it turns out Pascoe had to fight in court to keep the investigation because Attorney General Alan Wilson attempted to help Merrill, who happens to be his friend, by trying to assign another prosecutor to the case.This isn t the first time Trump has hired people who have since been charged with committing crimes.A Trump campaign staffer in Michigan was convicted of election fraud late last month.It makes one wonder just how many criminals Trump hired to help him win and how many will be in his administration.Featured Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images