As he prepared to fly along with a security detail to meet his family, Sanford also released his personal travel records to the media, though he did not include information from his most recent trip to Argentina. He has maintained he did not use taxpayer money to finance his trysts, which the investigation backed up, said State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd.

"What he did on his own private time is not illegal," Lloyd said.

Chapur and Sanford met at an open air dance spot in Uruguay in 2001 and their relationship became physical during an economic development trip Sanford took to South America in June 2008. In between, the governor told AP, they exchanged e-mails but saw each other only once, a coffee date during the Republican National Convention in 2004.

Sanford has already given the state treasurer two personal checks totaling $3,300 to pay for part of the 2008 economic development trip. He saw Chapur four times after that — the most recent trip to Argentina, plus three visits in New York in between. The last of those, with a spiritual adviser, was sanctioned by Jenny Sanford and was supposed to be the last time Mark Sanford and Chapur saw each other.

Sanford arranged one of the meetings in New York — a November tryst in the Hamptons — by adding a three-day stopover in New York to a flight from Ireland to South Carolina. He had been traveling abroad on behalf of the Republican Governor's Association, which he headed from that same month until last week. The records he released show he paid for that part of the trip with his personal credit card.

Sanford also arrived in Manhattan a day before another RGA function in September to visit Chapur; his wife flew in the following day.

The political group learned Thursday that Sanford had used its functions as an opportunity to meet his mistress, said RGA Communications Director Mike Schrimpf.

"Like everyone else, we had absolutely no idea of how he planned to spend his personal time at the conclusion of the trips," he said.

Though law enforcement has cleared Sanford, he is likely to face plenty more fallout from his recent revelations. Publisher Sentinel, a dedicated conservative imprint within Penguin Group (USA) Inc., announced Thursday that it has terminated Sanford's deal to write a book on fiscal conservatism.

But most difficult, his wife said, will be making things right with her and their four sons.

"Actions have consequences and he will be dealing with those consequences for a long while," Jenny Sanford said. "Trust has been broken and will need to be rebuilt. Mark will need to earn back that trust, first and foremost with his family, and also with the people of South Carolina."