BLUEFIELD —Governor. Jim Justice said Wednesday that a lawsuit filed by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee over the release of his calendar, or official calendar, is the result of fear that he might be elected to the U.S. Senate.
“Senate Democrats are scared to death that someone will eventually take (Sen. Joe) Manchin’s place, whether he runs or not,” Justice said, adding that his victory could mean Republicans take back the control of the United States Senate.
Justice is running for the Republican nomination to try to win Manchin’s seat, facing Rep. Alex Mooney, R-2nd District. Manchin has not yet said whether he is running for re-election.
Justice said during her administration briefing that she doesn’t even keep a calendar and works “all the time. I work every day because I love it.”
“It’s just a bunch of desperate Democratic senators who absolutely don’t want to give up their power,” he said of the Democrats’ current 51-49 advantage.
The lawsuit comes after the Justice office “repeatedly failed to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests for its official calendar or official calendar” and, according to The Associated Press, the lawsuit comes after an analysis of the 2019 of seven months of the Justice calendar revealed almost no meetings. with his cabinet and showed that he was rarely in the Capitol. His schedule showed him mostly in photo shoots or simply gone.
“When is enough enough?” Justice said of the lawsuit. “I work longer hours and am more dedicated in every way to this state than probably anyone who has ever been in this office. It’s dirty and not good politics…”
The justice also pointed to his achievements as governor, including taking over a state that was “depleted” and now running huge surpluses.
It’s an argument he also used in response to a question about the numerous court battles facing his family’s company, the Justice companies, related to alleged unpaid debt, late payments on benefits for coal miners and mine safety payments.
“Everybody likes to pile things up,” he said. “I’m not running these businesses. I haven’t seen a set of books… from the businesses in years.”
The justice also said that many reports related to the companies’ legal problems and debts are “biased in one way or another”.
He said his family’s businesses will pay his bills.
“Any obligation or responsibility that the companies have, they will take care of it,” he said, adding that with 100 companies sometimes problems will arise.
Justice said his ancestors started from scratch and “built a business empire,” adding that he is now not involved in running the family businesses. “I don’t have time to do it. I’m really focused on one thing … to make things better for West Virginians.”
“I got to the governorship and brought my business skills that I am very proud of,” he said. “Look what has happened to this state.”
West Virginia ran a $1.3 billion surplus last fiscal year and expects a surplus of more than $1.7 billion this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
After a Freedom of Information request was filed with the governor’s office seeking records of scheduled official meetings with the justices since 2017, as well as meetings with Justice Chief of Staff Brian Abraham, Deputy Chief of Staff Ann Urling and Berkeley Bentley, General Counsel for Justice, a response has been sent to the plaintiff.
Here is part of Bentley’s response to the FOIA request:
“We have completed our search and review of the public records in our custody that are responsive to your request. Your request will be denied to the extent that you are seeking records exempt from disclosure under the West Virginia Code. .. Any calendars or notes that may contain information related to official meetings of the Governor or senior staff listed above are in draft form only, include appointments that may or may not occur, are reviewed daily, are never corrected, and do not are an accurate record of such meetings.Furthermore, such calendars or notes are maintained solely for the personal convenience of such staff members in coordinating personal and business appointments and are not under the control of the Office of the Governor or they are integrated into the files of the Office of the Governor.
“The responsibilities of the Governor’s Office in connection with your FOIA request have ended. If you are aggrieved by the denial of your request, FOIA offers you the opportunity to request relief injunctive or declaratory in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia.”
