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Grooms was one of several South Carolina lawmakers who traveled to Panama in September 2010 for a three-day trip paid for by the South Carolina State Ports Authority, even though he was a member of a commission that oversaw the authority. At least $29,000 was spent on the Ports Authority-sponsored trip, which sought to promote South Carolina ports to Panama Canal officials. Information gathered by the investigative journalism website The Nerve showed that the authority covered most of the costs for the seven-member legislative group, which included five legislators: Grooms, Rep. J. David Weeks, Rep. Bill Sandifer III, Sen. Phillip Shoopman and then-Rep. Harry Cato. Grooms was the only one of the five legislators to reimburse the Ports Authority for his trip expenses, nearly $1,500.
