Part of: Mace vs. the Solicitor: the campaign against the prosecutor in her own cases (2025) · Musgrave v. Mace (2:25-cv-01823-RMG) · 2026 Governor Campaign
'If There Is No Evidence, There Would Be No Investigation': Nancy Mace on Brian Musgrave, vs. Scarlett Wilson's Quote Exonerating Him
The morning after she named him on the House floor, Rep. Nancy Mace answered Brian Musgrave's denial on X: 'So, Brian Musgrave, if there is no evidence, there would be no investigation.' His defamation suit was dismissed after the United States was substituted for her, in an order that offers no opinion on whether her allegations were true. Three days later she posted that she looked forward to the day his lawyer 'and his client will be forced to foot the bill for my attorney's fees.' In August 2026, Solicitor Scarlett Wilson wrote to SLED that its report on her allegations 'offers zero evidence that Mr. Musgrave committed any crime because zero evidence was presented to you.' He has never been charged.
Rep. Nancy Mace named Brian Musgrave of Fort Mill, S.C., on the House floor in February 2025 and has written about him since. This page sets her own words, in date order, beside the court order and the prosecutors' letters that followed. Musgrave has denied her accusations from the start and has never been charged. SLED charged the other three men she named on Oct. 14, 2026; they are presumed innocent. Nothing here is a finding about anyone.
On the House floor, Feb. 10, 2025
Standing beside a board headed "PREDATORS," Mace told the House: "And you can see the names and the faces of these predators on this board to my right tonight." She said, "And today their names will be tied to their crimes and their cowardice forever," and read four names into the record, ending with "And Brian Musgrave of Fort Mill, South Carolina." (her video of the speech; our dispatch on the speech)
'If there is no evidence, there would be no investigation'
Musgrave denied the accusations. At 7:45 the next morning, her official account answered him by name:
In Brian Musgrave's denial he said my claims are "baseless" and without a "shred of evidence." He must have missed the part of my speech where I said I "documented" evidence with "metadata." It was also confirmed last night by SLED - there is an active investigation. So, Brian Musgrave, if there is no evidence, there would be no investigation. Hold the line.
(post)
'Watch you rot for an eternity'
On Feb. 12, @RepNancyMace posted a clip of the speech addressed to the four men. After their names, the post read: "you've bought yourself a one-way ticket to hell. Nonstop. No connections. So I, and ALL of your victims, can watch you rot for an eternity." In the video she says, "So I, and all of your victims, can watch you rot for an eternity." (post with video)
The lawsuit
Musgrave sued Mace for defamation in federal court. On Aug. 20, 2025, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel substituted the United States for her as the defendant under the Westfall Act and dismissed the case with prejudice. Footnote 1 of the order reads: "The Court offers no opinion concerning the truthfulness or the lack of truthfulness of allegations made by Defendant Mace in her House speech." The order adds: "Under the operation of the FTCA, Plaintiff has no civil remedy to hold accountable persons he believes have defamed him." (order, PDF; case page)
That day she posted: "Judge Gergel dismissed Brian Musgrave's baseless defamation suit against me!" and "The court proved the US Constitution is the LAW OF THE LAND." (post)
'Forced to foot the bill for my attorney's fees'
Three days later, on Aug. 23, 2025, both of her accounts posted numbered lists. On @RepNancyMace, item 2 read "We won the Brian Musgrave Defamation case" and item 5 read:
I informed Eric Bland, the attorney for Brian Musgrave, I would soon face him in court and looked forward to the day when he and his client will be forced to foot the bill for my attorney's fees for the ridiculous false statements told throughout this entire ordeal. I will soon have my day in court, I hope those boys are ready.
(post)
On @NancyMace, item 5 read: "Told Eric Bland (Brian Musgrave attorney) I was looking forward to the day when he and his client would be forced to pay my attorney's fees, for all the ridiculous and false statements which we will VERY EASILY disprove in court, because that day is coming! Hope this guy is LAWYERED UP." (post)
What the prosecutors wrote
SLED sent its report on her allegations (file 11-23-0312) to Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson in July 2026. Wilson and two other solicitors wrote about it. Their letters are prosecutors' reviews of SLED's report, not court findings. They were made public on Oct. 14, 2026.
- Wilson, to SLED, Aug. 14, 2026: "Your report offers zero evidence that Mr. Musgrave committed any crime because zero evidence was presented to you." (memo, PDF)
- Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone, Aug. 18, 2026: "Congresswoman Nancy Mace made many allegations to law enforcement and to the public that have turned out to not be true." (letter, PDF)
- Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor Kevin S. Brackett, Aug. 21, 2026: "Having completed our task diligently, we now know that there is not one speck of evidence that substantiates any of the reckless accusations she made against Mr. Musgrave and that he is completely innocent of these outrageous claims." (letter, PDF)
Musgrave has never been charged. On Oct. 14, 2026, SLED charged the other three men she named; they are presumed innocent (ABC News 4; our dispatch on the letters). His lawyer, Ronnie Richter, told ABC News 4 that his client was "fully vindicated" and that they are "still hoping for an apology from Rep. Mace."
Her words since
An X search on Nov. 7, 2026 found no post from @NancyMace or @RepNancyMace naming Musgrave since Aug. 10, 2026. Her October 2026 posts about defamation suits, which do not name him, are in our Nov. 4 dispatch.
What this shows, and what it does not
Her Feb. 11, 2025 post pointed to an active SLED investigation. Wilson's memo reviews SLED's report on her allegations; it does not say which inquiry her post meant. The court did not rule on whether her allegations were true, and the letters are prosecutors' reviews, not court findings. Nothing here is a finding about anyone.
Video and credit
The Short above uses Rep. Nancy Mace's own video, her Feb. 10, 2025 House floor speech from her YouTube channel and her Feb. 12, 2025 post on X, credited on screen, with an AI-generated narration voice. Every source is linked above.
Read next
October 15, 2026 · Dispatch"She Would Have and Should Have Been Sued Into Bankruptcy": Three South Carolina Prosecutors on Nancy Mace's Accusations Against Brian Musgrave
Three of South Carolina's senior prosecutors reviewed the state investigation of Rep. Nancy Mace's accusations, and each wrote, in a letter now public, that her public accusations against Brian Musgrave lacked evidence. Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson called them 'spurious claims' resting on 'the lack of even a scintilla of evidence' (Aug. 14, 2026). Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone wrote that her statements 'branding Brian Musgrave a predator, a rapist, and a human trafficker are shocking' (Aug. 18). Sixteenth Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett wrote that 'there is not one speck of evidence' and that, had she not been protected by the Constitution, she 'would have and should have been sued into bankruptcy' (Aug. 21). FITSNews and ABC News 4 published the letters on Oct. 14, 2026. The letters are shown here. Musgrave has always denied the accusations. Mace has not retracted them.
October 17, 2026 · DispatchEXCLUSIVE: Brian Musgrave Speaks to ABC News 4 After Three Prosecutors Clear Him
In an exclusive interview with ABC News 4 (WCIV), Brian Musgrave describes learning from a reporter's text, while driving to buy birdseed, that Rep. Nancy Mace had named him in her February 10, 2025 House floor speech, and what it was like to read the letters of three South Carolina solicitors. Solicitor Kevin Brackett wrote that there is “not one speck of evidence that substantiates any of the reckless accusations she made against Mr. Musgrave and that he is completely innocent of these outrageous claims.” Solicitor Scarlett Wilson wrote of “the lack of even a scintilla of evidence.” Solicitor Duffie Stone wrote that Mace offered “neither evidence nor even suspicions.” Musgrave’s federal suit against Mace was dismissed on August 20, 2025 on immunity grounds, and the court offered no opinion on whether her allegations were true. ABC News 4 reported that Mace has offered no apology. The interview is ABC News 4’s, by Madison Wilber, Oct. 16, 2026.
August 23, 2026 · DispatchMace Won't Talk About Brian Musgrave, and He Isn't Even Under the Gag Order
A year ago this week, a federal judge ended Brian Musgrave's defamation case against Rep. Nancy Mace, not because her 'predator' accusation was found true, but because the court held she was immune. Eighteen months after she named the Fort Mill businessman from the House floor, there is still no criminal charge, no evidence produced, no retraction, and SLED has told him he is not a target. Musgrave was never a party to the case Mace is gagged in, and his own case is closed, so nothing bars her from answering for the accusation. She simply does not.
October 15, 2026 · DispatchSolicitor Scarlett Wilson to SLED: Mace's Credibility "Would Be Thoroughly Undermined"
In an August 14, 2026 Memorandum of Review to SLED, published October 14 by FITSNews and ABC News 4, Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson wrote that Rep. Nancy Mace's credibility 'would be thoroughly undermined by her false allegations against Mr. Musgrave.' Wilson also wrote that her review offers 'zero evidence' against Brian Musgrave and that Solicitors Duffie Stone and Kevin Brackett 'concur with my assessments.' Musgrave denies Mace's accusations and has not been charged. The letters are prosecutors' reviews, not court findings. Mace has not publicly addressed them.
November 4, 2026 · DispatchNancy Mace's Bill Says Losing Plaintiffs Pay. Her Replies Asked: What About the Falsely Accused?
Rep. Nancy Mace has promoted her Speak Your Truth Act, H.R. 10783, in nine X posts since October 12. The bill would make a plaintiff who loses a federal defamation suit over a statement about sexual assault, harassment or discrimination pay the defendant's lawyers. We read the 445 replies X showed under those posts. 37 asked about people who are falsely accused, and 21 more pointed to her own accusations; 47 supported the bill. The accusations her replies raised include the ones she made from the House floor on February 10, 2025. The only defamation suit over those that has ended, Brian Musgrave's, was decided in federal court on immunity, with the judge offering 'no opinion concerning the truthfulness or the lack of truthfulness' of her allegations. The state's prosecutors did weigh the evidence. In August, Solicitor Scarlett Wilson wrote that SLED's report 'offers zero evidence that Mr. Musgrave committed any crime,' Solicitors Duffie Stone and Kevin Brackett concurred, and Brackett wrote that Musgrave 'is completely innocent.' He was never charged. The bill has no cosponsors and has not moved since October 9.
October 17, 2026 · DispatchSLED Checked 26 of Mace's Allegations. The Prosecutor Called Her Description of the Video 'Inaccurate, if Not False.'
SLED's 147-page report looked at 26 allegations Rep. Nancy Mace made against four men on the House floor. The Post and Courier got the report and the prosecutor's memo through an open records request. Solicitor Scarlett Wilson wrote that the video Mace described shows the opposite of what she said, calling her description 'inaccurate, if not false'. On a separate claim, four witnesses told SLED the camera she called hidden in Bryant's condo was in plain view. SLED also found no child sexual abuse images. All four men named by Mace issued strong denials. Mace did not respond to the paper.