Lawsuit Filed by Ex-Fiancée of Rep. Nancy Mace

The former fiancé of South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace, Patrick Bryant, initiated a retaliation lawsuit against her on Thursday, claiming she misrepresented him as a sex offender in a convoluted scheme involving the estranged wife of a friend.

Bryant, a businessman, lodged the lawsuit in Charleston County. The allegations suggest that Mace engaged in a complex plot aimed at discrediting a mutual acquaintance, Eric Bowman, by fabricating an assault case she highlighted in a speech on the House floor back in February.

During that speech, Mace passionately accused four men of drugging, sexually assaulting, and filming numerous female victims, including herself. Among those she accused was Bryant. Their relationship ended in November 2023, after which Bryant claims Mace exhibited increasingly paranoid behaviors, including hacking into his phone and attaching a tracking device to his car, as noted in documents reviewed by authorities.

Bryant alleges he caught Mace searching through his phone and accused her of secretly installing applications to access his personal photos and data without his consent.

The lawsuit also states that Mace and Bowman’s estranged wife crafted a deceptive story to convince an unnamed individual, who previously worked with Bryant, that she had discovered a video depicting an employee being “gang raped.” The complaint indicates that the deputy misled this individual, whom they refer to as Jane Doe, into believing the incident occurred at Bowman’s residence involving Bryant and another man.

Bryant asserts that Doe denied any recollection of the events, but Mace continued to insist she possessed evidence to support her claims.

According to the lawsuit, Mace fabricated these allegations as a means to blackmail Bryant and manipulate the situation during their separation process, with the intention of harming him for her own benefit. In May, Doe’s alleged victims filed their own lawsuit against Bryant, Bowman, and another individual, accusing them of assault, conspiracy, and emotional distress, stating Doe was raped and photographed in a vulnerable state at Bowman’s home in October 2018.

Bryant maintains he is the “sole victim” amid this complex narrative. Mace, who has two children, is making a run for governor in South Carolina for the 2026 election, all while dealing with several lawsuits related to her controversial House speech.

Mace quickly responded to Bryant’s lawsuit, highlighting that she had just initiated her own legal action against him. She mentioned that both she and Doe were waiting on attorney’s fees. A court ruling on October 29 found that Bryant’s company and attorneys had violated South Carolina law by issuing subpoenas and terminating employees without proper court approval in the Doe case.

Mace remarked, “It’s as if Patrick Bryant is asking me to write him another check,” addressing the intricacies of the ongoing legal battles. She plans to file a counterclaim against Bryant, citing abuse of process, conspiracy, and rising attorney fees.

Bryant’s lawsuit includes claims for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The South Carolina Department of Law Enforcement investigated the four men Mace publicly accused during her speech, but no charges were filed against any of them. Another individual Mace accused, Brian Musgrave, has subsequently filed a lawsuit against her but has been mostly excluded from the ongoing legal confrontations.