South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace unleashed a stunning stream of allegations on the floor of the House of Representatives on Feb. 10, accusing her ex-fiancé and three of his male business associates of recording incidents of sexual exploitation, voyeurism and assault involving multiple women without their knowledge. She too was a victim, she said.
Speaking in the House chamber, Mace used her nearly hour-long address to name and label a group of four men as "predators" who collaborated to victimize a host of females and keep recordings of some of their alleged acts.
Mace said she found evidence in the form of footage tied to cellphones and hidden cameras, along with a large volume of images taken of females without their knowledge.
"The purpose of my speech tonight is to make sure these women will never be forgotten, and the men who hurt them will never be allowed to get away with it or hide again," Mace said in her opening remarks.
All four of the men named by Mace issued strong denials when contacted by The Post and Courier.
The State Law Enforcement Division late Feb. 10 confirmed to the newspaper it has an open and active investigation.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace accused her ex-fiancé and three of his male business associates of recording incidents of sexual exploitation, voyeurism and assault involving multiple women without their knowledge. Mace says she is also a victim. All four men have denied the allegations.
At one point in her speech she described seeing a video of a naked woman who appeared unaware she was being recorded via hidden camera.
"She was slender and she had long brown hair," Mace said, adding that she turned up the volume. She heard her own voice and zoomed in.
"And that woman was me," she said.
Mace identified the site of the recording as a property co-owned by her former fiancé and one of his business partners. She was engaged to Charleston software entrepreneur Patrick Bryant for about 19 months until their breakup in late 2023.
Bryant told The Post and Courier: "I categorically deny these allegations. I take this matter seriously and will cooperate fully with any necessary legal processes to clear my name.”
SLED confirmed it had opened an investigation on Dec. 14, 2023, regarding allegations of assault, harassment and voyeurism after being contacted by U.S. Capitol Police.
"The subject of the investigation is Patrick Bryant," SLED said in a written statement.
SLED said it has conducted multiple interviews and served multiple search warrants in the case, which it described as "complex."
“Once the investigation is completed, it will be sent to a prosecutor for review,” the statement said.
Mace spells out allegations
Mace said she discovered and viewed footage of an incapacitated woman being sexually assaulted. She said she also uncovered an app where the stored files of one hidden camera contained more than 10,000 videos.
"Let me repeat, just one camera I found had 10,633 videos on it," Mace said.
Evidence of some of the alleged assaults goes back as long as two decades, she said.
Early in her address, Mace put her hand on a Bible and swore she was telling the truth.
"When I uncovered evidence of rape and the illegal filming of women and sex trafficking I didn't just see victims — I saw a system that failed to protect them," she said. "I saw criminals who thought they could get away with it because no one had the guts, no one had the courage, no one had the bravery to hold them accountable."
Mace's address, which she titled "Iron Sharpens Iron," will be entered into the official congressional record. Her comments may be considered shielded under Congress' protective Speech and Debate Clause.
The chamber was mostly empty as Mace stood at a rostrum. At times she choked back tears. At other times her voice rose in anger.
Mace said she first learned of the alleged assaults and incidents of voyeurism in the fall of 2023 after getting a text message with screenshots showing Bryant was active on a dating site. Days later she confronted him and, according to her account, he then locked his phone in a safe.
Mace said Bryant later gave her access to the phone. Opening the device revealed some of the videos, including the recording of her that was made without her knowledge, she said.
She described how her sleuthing led her to uncover multiple sexually oriented images ranging from upskirt photos of women and girls, including the wife and a daughter of business associates. She said she documented all of what she saw, noting she once worked as a computer programmer.
"None of this is conjecture," she said. "These are not allegations. These are the facts."
Mace said she was able to identify almost a dozen of the women involved, several of whom she said were in the House attending the speech. She said that last year she had to tell a woman that she’d been assaulted and didn't know it because she was incapacitated when it happened.
Mace said in some of her interviews with the victims she heard a repeated pattern of them drinking something and later blacking out — something Mace said she could relate to. She pointed to a gathering she attended in 2022 at an Isle of Palms property owned by two of those she alleges to be part of the group.
"I was served two small vodka sodas," she said, adding "a short time later, I blacked out."
The memories from that evening are images flashing in and out of the dark, she said, stressing that she had never blacked out until that instance.
"I was raped that night," she said.
Mace was first elected in 2020 and was re-elected in November 2024, which means the timing of the event fell within her window as an elected member of Congress.
Mace additionally accused Bryant of physically assaulting her in an incident of domestic violence as she attempted to flee their IOP home in November 2023 as their relationship ended.
The couple had purchased at least two properties together, one in Washington, D.C., and the other on the Isle of Palms.
In recent months, Mace has said she has had to live in four different places in the course of fleeing domestic abuse and relayed she is being treated for PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder.
South Carolina Congresswoman Nancy Mace unleashed a stunning stream of allegations on the floor of the House of Representatives tonight, accusing her ex-fiancé and three of his male business associates of recording incidents of sexual exploitation, voyeurism and assault involving multiple women without their knowledge. Her ex-fiancé released a statement categorically denying the allegations.
The other men respond
During her speech, which was broadcast nationally on the C-SPAN network, Mace stood next to a large poster board with the names, images and hometowns of the four men she was accusing. The title "predators" was emblazoned above.
Like Bryant, the three others refuted the allegations in statements to The Post and Courier.
"Nancy Mace’s statement tonight is a dangerous mix of falsehoods and baseless accusations, recklessly leveled at four individuals without a shred of evidence," Brian Musgrave said via text. "Her continued pattern of making inflammatory claims without proof is not only reckless but a blatant attempt to weaponize the legal system for political and personal gain. This will be my only statement until I have consulted counsel."
John Osborne said in a phone interview: "The claims are categorically untrue and it is completely unfair to be looped in to such accusations from her."
Eric Bowman said via text: "I unequivocally deny all the allegations made against me which are baseless, repugnant and defamatory. I intend to fight this in a court of law."
Mace said she set up a hotline — 843-212-7048 — for anyone who believes they have been victimized or secretly recorded by any of the men she named.
Mace blasts attorney general; Alan Wilson responds
Mace said that during the last year she turned over collections of evidence of the recorded encounters and other images to law enforcement, along with identifying witnesses and other information. But she specifically accused Attorney General Alan Wilson of not turning her allegations into a moving case.
Among the questions Mace raised is why there has been no indictments to date. She accused Wilson, who is a potential rival in next year's Republican race for governor, of slow-walking her allegations.
Wilson's office said Mace is procedurally misinterpreting how crimes are investigated in the state and said the attorney general has had no contact with her about her claims.
"Recent statements made by Congresswoman Nancy Mace regarding the conduct of the South Carolina Attorney General are categorically false," the statement said.
"Ms. Mace either does not understand or is purposefully mischaracterizing the role of the Attorney General. At this time, our office has not received any reports or requests for assistance from any law enforcement or prosecution agencies regarding these matters. Additionally, the Attorney General and members of his office have had no role and no knowledge of these allegations until her public statements."
The statement continued that Mace and the attorney general have been at multiple events together over the last six months.
"She also has the Attorney General’s personal cellphone number. Not once has she approached or reached out to him regarding any of her concerns," it read.
Mace, who in her address listed various legislation she supports to protect women, said her goal with the speech was to go "scorched earth."
Caitlin Byrd, Jocelyn Grzeszczak, Kailey Cota, Jason Cato and Marilyn Thompson contributed to this report.
