Something smells a little too convenient down in South Carolina, and no, it’s not just the smoke from a beachfront mansion going up in flames.
Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein, 69, returned from walking her dog Saturday morning to find her $1.5 million Jeremy Cay home engulfed in an inferno. While she was out enjoying the beach, her husband Arnold Goodstein, 81, and other family members were trapped inside the house, forced to jump from windows to escape. Some were injured — Arnold, a former Democrat state legislator, was airlifted to the hospital. Their son, Arnold III, also sustained injuries.
But here’s where things get interesting. According to South Carolina Chief Justice John Kittredge, this wasn’t just some electrical fire caused by faulty wiring. Investigators determined that an “apparent explosion” preceded the fire. That’s not your run-of-the-mill kitchen grease fire. That’s something far more intentional sounding — and suspicious.
Now throw this into the mix: Judge Goodstein is fresh off a high-profile ruling that got her slapped with death threats. Just a month ago, she blocked a Trump-endorsed effort to obtain voter records for over 3 million South Carolinians — part of a federal initiative to root out illegal voting by non-citizens. Her ruling directly opposed Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who slammed the decision and took it straight to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Spoiler alert: they overturned her.
In other words, Goodstein used her position to block a common-sense election integrity measure. Her ruling protected sensitive voter information — including birthdates and Social Security digits — from being cross-referenced with immigration databases. That might’ve made her popular with the activist class and Democrat donors, but not with anyone who actually wants to make sure only citizens vote in American elections.
So, here we are: one month later, her luxury beach mansion explodes while she’s out walking the dog, and her husband barely escapes with his life.
Look, arson hasn’t been confirmed yet. But it hasn’t been ruled out either. And when you connect the dots — controversial ruling, political backlash, media attention, death threats, and now a literal explosion — you can’t just brush this off as coincidence. Not unless you’ve got your head in the sand.
South Carolina authorities are still investigating, but this is shaping up to be more than just a tragic house fire. It’s beginning to look like someone sent a message. The only question is: who lit the match, and why?
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