Man arrested for releasing personal info ex-Dem Party committee member

The arrest of former state Department of Health and Human Services employee Christopher Lykes for allegedly releasing the personal information of over 200,000 Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries has led to an unexpected he-said-she-said brouhaha between the S.C. Republican Party and the state Democratic Party.

Yesterday, the SCGOP fired a press-release salvo claiming that Lykes was not a former member of the Lexington County Democratic Party Executive Committee. According to the Republican Party, Dick Harpootlian and his liberal minions “scrubbed” the official S.C. Democratic Party website of Lykes’ name. An April 18 screencapture shows Lykes as a Lexington Democratic Party Executive Committee contact, but his name is missing from an April 19 screencapture. Lykes was arrested on April 18.

“The South Carolina Democratic Party thinks they can pull the wool over the public’s eyes. Dick Harpootlian and his cronies need to immediately condemn Chris Lykes’ behavior and apologize to honest, hard-working South Carolinians,” says Matt Moore, SCGOP executive director.

But according to SCDP Executive Director Amanda Loveday, Lykes was not re-elected to his position as a member of the Lexington County Democratic Party Executive Committee during the county convention in March.

Meanwhile, Lexington County Democratic Party chair Kathryn Hensley notes that Lykes had been an active member of the Lexington County Dems. Lykes previously served as a precinct officer, but Hensley says he no longer holds that position. “For the past three months, I’ve been updating our records with new information and sending it along to our state party so they can update their records,” Hensley says.

The Lexington County Democratic chair adds, “I can’t imagine why the SCGOP would be interested in our county party committees. I’m certainly not interested in theirs.”

Authorities believe Lykes disseminated the personal information of 228,435 South Carolina Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries. He has been charged with six counts involving the release of confidential information. SLED notes that “at least one party received this data from the former employee.” The law enforcement agency is still investigating the matter and has taken possession of Lykes’ work and personal computer.

SLED began their investigation on April 10 and took Lykes’ computers on April 11.

Last week, the DHHS discovered that Lykes had allegedly transferred the personal information of Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries — most of whom live in Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Lexington, Orangeburg, and Richland counties — to his personal email account.

Experian will provide free credit monitoring to victims. The Post and Courier reports that the service will cost an estimated $1 million.

Affected beneficiaries have been contacted by mail and can call DHHS toll free at (888) 829-6561 or visit here for more information.