New major twist in alleged sexual assault case involving Nancy Mace's ex-finance
A new legal filing in an alleged assault case goes after the former fiance of Rep. Nancy Mace – as well as a top political consultant who accused her of using explosive photos for 'blackmail.'
The filing by the alleged assault victim describes a 2018 incident where the alleged victim says a witness saw video footage of her being assaulted and filmed without her consent.
She was allegedly passed out on the couch at a Sullivan's Island, South Carolina home at the time.
The alleged assault featured in Mace's stunning House Floor speech after she threatened to go 'scorched earth' against people she called predators. It has since kicked off a series of suits and counter suits.
The amended complaint hits back with new allegations against longtime South Carolina consultant Wesley Donehue, whose newly revealed deposition appeared to undermine some of Mace's claims about the case.
Donehue says he 'fired' Mace as a client because she was becoming 'erratic and unstable.'
His allegations came under oath in a deposition that DailyMail revealed in May.
In his sworn deposition, the consultant accused Mace of engaging in blackmail when she asked him to contact her former fiance, Patrick Bryant, to tell him she had obtained video evidence from his phone and use it as 'leverage' to gain ownership of two homes they were squabbling over in DC and Isle of Palms, South Carolina.
The homes have a combined value of $5 million. A source familiar with the matter denied the blackmail charge.
The 'Jane Doe' suit alleges that Mace's ex-fiance gave Mace access to his phone after a pastor told the then-couple Bryant needed to 'build trust' and she subsequently viewed his phone while he was sleeping. Mace then found photos and images of the alleged sexual assault, the complaint alleges.
It says Mace was 'haunted' by the images, finally establishing contact with the alleged victim in 2024, about a year before her stunning House floor speech where she referenced the alleged assault and identified four men as alleged sexual 'predators.'
According to the amended complaint, it is Donehue who engaged in 'blackmail.'
It says the longtime consultant who dumped Mace as a client made 'false and defamatory statements about Mace' that also 'prejudiced Plaintiff.'
The filing says Mace had reported pictures and images she found on Bryant's phone to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) in December 2023 – 'well before she talked to Donehue.'
'Therefore, she could not have asked Donehue to blackmail Bryant, because Bryant was already under investigation at the time,' the filing says.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Donehue for comment.
The complaint also took on Donehue's dramatic public firing of Mace. He had posted:
'I fired Nancy Mace as client a few months back because I'm a political consultant and not a babysitter, a sex therapist or a doctor who can prescribe fixes for chemical imbalances.
'I don't have time for her constant egotistical bulls*** and drama in my life.'
The suit said Mace and Bryant had settled their property dispute by May of 2024, before Donehue fired Mace, 'so she would not have asked Donehue to blackmail Bryant.'
Mace accused her ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant (right) and two of his associates, including John Osborne (left) of planning and filming the assault
Businessman Eric Bowman, 45, left, and software entrepreneur Brian Musgrave, 51, right, were two of four men Mace accused in her floor speech of being involved in the alleged sexual assault of an intoxicated woman at Bowman's home in 2018. All four men have categorically denied the claims
'Moreover, emails reveal the real reason that Donehue fired Mace as a client is that she wanted access to her Google Analytics, and Donehue didn't want to give her access to her own data,' the lawsuit says. It provides no further details on the the cause of the break.
'Donehue, not Mace, is the one engaged in blackmail,' the filing alleges. 'In December of 2024, Donehue sent Mace hostile and threatening text messages when she had a public dispute with Trey Gowdy, one of Donahue's [sic]. Donehue texted Mace "And let me be very clear with you. You do not want to pick a fight with me ...'
And in yet another sweeping allegation, the lawsuit accuses Mace's ex-fiance Bryant of establishing an LLC for the 'improper' purpose of conducting depositions to 'disseminate false information and discredit the Plaintiff's witensses, thereby interfering with her right to have a fair and impartial jury in future criminal and civil proceedings.'
Mace has filed a motion to intervene in the Jane Doe case.
The lawsuit names three men as defendants: Bryant, John Osborne, and Eric Bowman, as well as two companies as well as three LLCs. State police opened an investigation into her bombshell claims in February.
Bryant told Daily Mail in a statement, 'I'm doing everything I can to clear my name. I've answered every allegation in court, secured key witness testimony, and I remain committed to making sure the whole truth, not rumor, comes to light about me and my businesses.'
Bowman has previously said he has spoken to SLED and denies wrongdoing. SLED has confirmed it opened an investigation into Bryant. Bryant issued a statement immediately after Mace's February 10 speech - which aired live to the nation on CSPAN - saying: 'I categorically deny these allegations.'
And Osborne previously told The Post & Courier: 'The claims are categorically untrue and it is completely unfair to be looped into such accusations.' None of the people Mace identified have been charged with a crime.
The legal filing says Bowman and Bryant 'defamed' the plaintiff online and accuses them of 'humiliating' her on social media.
Bowman, the first of the four branded as predators on the House floor by Mace, previously told the Daily Mail that the accuser fell into his pool while drunk and passed out on his couch.
'She walked inside by herself and went to dry off in the bathroom and put herself on the couch. She was fully coherent until she put herself to sleep,' he said.
'At some point her boyfriend comes and picks her up. That's it,' he said.
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