Nancy Mace concocted rape story and hacked fiancé’s cellphone in bid to grab two multi-million-dollar properties, bombshell new lawsuit claims
‘Paranoid’ Nancy Mace hacked her ex-fiancé’s phone, tracked his car and destroyed his reputation by falsely smearing him as a voyeur and rapist, an explosive new lawsuit claims.
The South Carolina congresswoman went ‘scorched earth’ on four men she outed as alleged sexual predators in a February House speech, claiming they drugged, molested, and filmed multiple female victims – including herself.
But one of the accused – her estranged lover Patrick Bryant, 51 – has filed a scathing legal riposte, accusing the GOP firebrand of cooking up fake gang rape claims to blackmail him.
Bryant’s complaint says his explosive feud with Mace, 47, stems from a messy breakup in November 2023 when she became ‘paranoid’ that he was cheating and placed a tracker in his car.
He accuses the lawmaker of installing a secret app on his phone to plunder pictures and data that she hoped to use to pressure him into relinquishing their two jointly owned homes worth around $6million.
Then, as the dispute escalated, Mace and a friend allegedly conspired to convince a ‘vulnerable’ young woman that businessman Bryant and two of his pals gang raped her at 2018 party, his complaint alleges.
The attack, like the multiple allegations of abuse and voyeurism outlined in the Republican’s fiery Congressional speech, never happened, Bryant declares.
‘The only victim is Bryant. An innocent and respected businessman who has been falsely branded a rapist and voyeur,’ says his complaint, filed in Charleston County, South Carolina, and obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail.
Nancy Mace’s embattled ex-fiancé Patrick Bryant has launched a blistering countersuit accusing the congresswoman of hacking his phone, secretly putting a tracker on his car, and ‘fabricating’ a rape story
The South Carolina congresswoman went ‘scorched earth’ on Bryant and three other men she publicly outed as alleged sexual predators during a February House speech, claiming they drugged, molested and filmed multiple female victims – including herself
Bryant says the hacked info became the basis for an alleged plot to blackmail him over their home in South Carolina’s exclusive Isles of Palms
Rep. Mace told the Daily Mail in response to the suit: ‘It’s almost as if Patrick Bryant is asking to write me another check.’
She was referencing a separate case in which a lawyer linked to Bryant was recently fined $33,456 for issuing subpoenas and deposing people without court permission.
‘I just got him sanctioned in court and it sounds like he may need to be sanctioned again,’ Mace added.
‘Rape victim Jane Doe and I are still waiting on his check to pay our legal fees after weaponizing the court and using lawfare against us.’
Mom-of-two Mace goes into the 2026 Gubernatorial race already ensnared in an assortment of defamation cases and lawsuits stemming from her now-notorious speech.
In one such suit, Bryant, Eric Bowman and John Osborne are being sued for battery, conspiracy and inflicting emotional distress by a Jane Doe who says she was raped and photographed while incapacitated on a couch at Bowman’s home in October 2018.
It’s in response to this suit that Bryant filed his counter-complaint Thursday morning, naming Mace, Bowman’s ex-wife Melissa Britton and the Doe as defendants in a civil conspiracy.
Their other home they co-owned was close to her DC office, with both properties jointly being worth $6million
The three other men named in Mace’s accusations were Eric Bowman (left), John Osborne (center) and Brian Musgrave.
In Bryant’s lawsuit, he claims Mace told her political consultant Wesley Donehue (left) that she would use the ‘information she found on his phone to get her houses’
His 19-page complaint states that on November 13, 2023 – the day he broke up with Mace – he woke up to find her searching his phone without permission.
Bryant was initially unaware she had hacked the device or removed data, the suit alleges. But he later discovered she had downloaded an application called Mr. Fone.
The app enabled Mace to ‘extract and download’ his photos and private information without permission, Bryant alleges.
‘Mace had previously admitted to searching Bryant’s laptop in violation of his privacy after he found the names of his ex-girlfriends in his search history and placing an air tag on his car tracking his locations while she was traveling internationally,’ the suit adds.
Bryant says the hacked info became the basis for an alleged plot to blackmail him over their jointly owned homes, one in South Carolina’s exclusive Isles of Palms, the other close to her DC office.
Mace told her political consultant Wesley Donehue that Byant had ‘filmed women without their consent’ and she would ‘use the information she found on his phone to get her houses.’
She instructed Donehue to tell Bryant she ‘would make the photographs public if he did not give Mace the properties’, the suit says.
‘Bryant also received calls from Mace after their breakup where she flip-flopped between wanting to get back together and blackmailing him with information she had claimed to see on his phone.
‘There are scores of Verizon records of the phone calls and screenshots of text messages of Mace’s threatening conduct.’
Bryant’s complaint says Mace then conspired with Eric Bowman’s estranged wife Melissa to concoct a bogus rape allegation stemming from the 2018 party.
The unnamed Doe fell into the pool after several hours of drinking then passed out on a couch, it’s claimed.
Melissa Britton fetched dry clothes and helped her get dressed but didn’t say anything to the alleged victim about an attack, nor did she report anything to the police, it’s claimed.
In early 2024, Britton and Mace got together, however, to discuss the incident ‘at which point the conspiracy was formed and the story was repurposed and publicized as part of a coordinated effort to harm Bryant,’ the suit contends.
Bryant claims allegations of rape at a 2018 party are fabricated
The Jane Doe fell into the pool at the party, after several hours of drinking, Bryan’s suit contends. It was only several yers later the young woman was told she had been gang raped, despite her saying she had no memory of any attack
It’s alleged that Mace called Doe, who was ‘young, vulnerable and would believe anything she was told’.
‘During this call, Mace told Doe she had discovered a “video” on Bryant’s Phone depicting Doe being ‘gang raped’ six-years earlier in October 2018 while unconscious,’ the suit says.
‘Mace claimed to have recognized the location in the recording as the home of Eric Bowman. She said the men involved were Bryant, Osborne and Bowman.’
The victim said she had no memory of the attack, but Mace insisted she had proof, Bryant claims.
‘She told Doe, a young and impressionable woman who had worked for Bryant years earlier, that she obtained a video of the alleged assault from Bryant’s cell phone.
‘What Mace did not tell Doe is that she concocted an entire false narrative of an assault, to blackmail Bryant, gain leverage in their separation proceedings, and try to ruin Bryant for her personal gain, he claims in his suit..
‘Unfortunately for Doe, she is a pawn in Mace’s and Britton’s elaborate scheme for their personal gain. There is no video of an assault in that no assault took place.’
Mace’s House remarks were protected by the Constitution’s ‘speech or debate’ clause which shields lawmakers from legal action while speaking in Congress.
Bryant said he is seeking unspecified damages for invasion of privacy, defamation and emotional distress, accusing Mace, Britton and the Jane Doe of aiding and abetting criminal conduct
Mace shared photos of her then boyfriend Patrick Bryant getting down on one knee to propose to her in May 2022. They split in 2023
But Bryant’s complaint insists she has no such protection for ‘extreme and outrageous’ behavior outside of her official duties.
‘When a sitting United States Congresswoman instead privately weaponizes falsehoods to extort private property, fabricates criminal allegations to destroy a citizen’s reputation and abuses her private relationships to coerce private citizens, that conduct shocks the conscience of every voter who entrusted her with their vote,’ his lawyers write.
Bryant is the only one of the four publicly accused men who has been criminally investigated by SLED, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Department – but he has not been charged with anything.
He and Mace got engaged in May 2022, but they called things off 18 months later – Mace telling the media that she had found Bryant’s profile on Tinder.
He’s seeking unspecified damages for invasion of privacy, defamation and emotional distress, accusing Mace, Britton and Doe of aiding and abetting criminal conduct.
The entrepreneur told the Daily Mail in a statement: ‘For almost two years I’ve had to stay quiet while completely false accusations were spread about me.
‘Claims that were created, repeated, and weaponized to serve personal and political vendettas. I have never assaulted or raped any woman.’
He added: ‘Mace continues to frame herself as a victim, while she was one of the people who originated these claims and helped push them forward.
‘She now tries to hide behind the privileges of her office, but this has nothing to do with governing. It’s a completely personal attack. This countersuit is about protecting innocent people from being destroyed by false accusations.’
Bowman denied the alleged pool party rape in a March 2025 interview with the Daily Mail, describing it as an ‘outrageous’ lie.
Osborne similarly denied claims he was a sexual abuser, telling The Post & Courier: ‘The claims are categorically untrue.’
