The Intelligencer. April 28, 2023.
Editorial: Restore Confidence in Elections Process
West Virginians have good cause to believe the security and fairness of our elections is in the right hands. After all, Secretary of State Mac Warner is so well regarded in that field that he testified Thursday before Congress about the security and confidence we have in our state’s elections.
U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, is chairman of the Committee on House Administration. According to Warner’s office, Steil invited him to “share West Virginia’s track record of holding elections with confidence and security with cutting edge state tools and procedures.”
This testimony is part of a committee hearing on “American Confidence in Elections: State Tools to Promote Voter Confidence.”
Goodness knows we have enough damage to repair, after the calculated attack on our confidence by those who repeatedly shared falsehoods via any means available in an attempt to undermine the 2020 election.
It is reassuring, then, to know Warner was then and continues to be vigilant when it comes to what his office calls the foundation principles of successful elections: state autonomy to the federal government, the importance of maintaining voter confidence, and the limited role of the federal government in election administration.
His expertise and leadership have earned him a reputation as someone to whom other election officials across the nation can turn for guidance.
Perhaps Warner’s testimony will help calm the nerves of those who are still clinging to those disproven claims from a few years back.
It should also give them the assurance that because of him and those all over the country who take their jobs just as seriously, Americans have every reason to be confident in our elections.
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Parkersburg News and Sentinel. May 2, 2023.
Editorial: Corruption: Clear out the rot in law enforcement
Something appears to be rotten in West Virginia law enforcement. Or, perhaps, outside investigators and other law enforcement organizations are doing a better job of rooting out what has always been there.
Either way, we’ve got a problem. Most recently, the rot was brought to light in the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where a former regional director of parole, David Jones, was sentenced for witness tampering. Jones had admitted to deliberately withholding information and lying to state and federal investigators during their investigation of sexual misconduct by a state parole officer Jones was supposed to be supervising.
Jones also admitted that on multiple occasions over three years he repeatedly instructed the other officer to lie to federal investigators and destroy and withhold evidence. The other officer in question is Anthony DeMetro, whose sentence includes having to register as a sex offender for violating the civil rights of a female parolee by sexually assaulting her while he was serving as her parole officer.
“We thank the survivor for having the courage and strength to come forward to tell her story,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to hold accountable public officials who exploit their power and authority to sexually assault and harm vulnerable people.”
Combine this story with the unfolding investigation into the West Virginia State Police, and what we know of some county and even municipal law enforcement, and it becomes even more urgent for those in positions of responsibility to clean up the rot before it begins to affect the many very good men and women we have in law enforcement in this state.
Failure to do so does an immense disservice to those who truly work to serve and protect. It puts them at risk, and we owe them better than that.
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Charleston Gazette-Mail. May 1, 2023.
Editorial: Jim Justice vs. the little people
It’s quite a juxtaposition in perspective. Gov. Jim Justice announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate last Thursday from his luxury Greenbrier Resort, which he purchased for $20 million, touting his devotion to the truth, flanked by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Meanwhile, in a home in Wyoming County, Pinkey Mullens, who worked for one of Justice’s myriad coal operations, talked to Gazette-Mail reporter Mike Tony about repeated lapses in medical coverage because of Justice’s failure to meet his obligations. Pinkey is one of hundreds of retirees from companies owned by Justice who have continually had to fight to get their benefits reinstated.
There’s no question that Justice believes he is universally loved in West Virginia. The personal and petty malice he directs at anyone who doesn’t reflect this view is evidence of how important that belief is to him.
Mullens, who has gone without important medications and had interruptions in prescription drug coverage for the past two years, doesn’t sugar coat his view of the two-term governor now seeking the Senate seat held by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
“(Justice) has no idea what obligation is,” Mullens told Tony, also saying, “I would not vote for that man for nothing. I despise him.”
One of the main concerns about Justice seeking a Senate seat is that he hasn’t put that much work into being governor, with a brief exception during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has never expressed any interest in changing his approach. Plenty of people have been happy enough just to get to shake his hand and get a picture with his dog, whose approval rating is probably 30 points higher than the governor’s. The Senate doesn’t work like that.
That’s a political criticism, though. It’s perhaps more important to hear from people like Mullens, who is in remission from leukemia and, with several other former employees, had to take Justice’s companies to court just so he could go to the pharmacy.
Tony’s report also contains a detailed history of all the fines, fees, debts and other financial obligations Justice’s companies have failed to meet. These things get referenced a lot in the news, but to see the dire financial situation of West Virginia’s wealthiest man and highest-elected official laid out like that is mind-blowing.
Just a few of the highlights:
— Former employees cited health care coverage lapses that occurred as many as 10 times in nine months.
— As of late last year, Justice’s coal companies were responsible for one-fifth of all federal mine safety debt in the country and had failed to pay fines or fees in relation to more than 2,300 citations over a five-year period. Justice and his family reached an agreement to pay $5.13 million in monthly installments to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, but haven’t made any payments over the past three months.
— Just last week, Justice and his wife, Cathy, acknowledged debt exceeding $305 million in principle, interest and attorneys fees to a bank in Virginia during a court proceeding. The bank claims it has loaned more than $700 million to 58 businesses owned and operated by Justice nearly seven years ago.
— Citizens Bank of West Virginia is seeking to have Justice’s wages as governor garnished, to pay back a more than $850,000 loan to buy equipment.
— Justice’s companies have been ordered by a federal court to pay more than $2.5 million for environmental cleanup in Tennessee.
— This month, a Kanawha County awarded Charleston legal firm Hendrickson & Long PLLC $8.5 million owed by three of Justice’s coal companies for services. The companies were seeking dismissal of a previous arbitration ruling against them.
Justice’s financial empire, which he refused to place in a blind trust after becoming governor, seems to be in complete disarray. A man who says he lives by his word constantly has to be dragged to court to uphold it. Even then, it’s a toss of the dice as to whether he’ll make good on his promises.
The governor might see this as how the world works for people like him. What he fails to consider is how it affects the people like Pinkey Mullens, who gave their careers to help Justice build his, at least at one time, astronomical wealth. That’s an important thing to consider when deciding who should represent West Virginia in the U.S. Senate.
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