ICYMI: Bouncing checks: Justice’s finances focus of Senate race [Weirton Daily Times]

New reporting from Weirton Daily Times highlights how West Virginia Republicans’ “battle royale” Senate primary is continuing to escalate as Justice faces scrutiny over his “pending court cases,” “properties being auctioned” and “judicial orders” for “past-due agreements.” 

The new report also details that Justice’s financial scandals are leading “political opponents [to] question his ability to be a viable candidate,” with Alex Mooney “hit[ting] Justice frequently for his business problems over the last several months.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Weirton Daily Times: Bouncing checks: Justice’s finances focus of Senate race 
By Steven Allen Adams
June 24, 2023

Key points:

• The Republican primary for U.S. Senate is still more than 10 months away, but the financial health of Gov. Jim Justice, once West Virginia’s richest man and lone billionaire, is an issue in the race.

• Justice has become increasingly defensive and protective of his business empire’s financial information, seeking to limit what data can be provided in a federal legal proceeding, pushing off when his campaign has to file financial disclosure reports and urging media to not focus on his family’s businesses.

• With pending court cases seeking millions of dollars, properties being auctioned on courthouse steps and judicial orders seeking payment for past-due agreements, Justice’s political opponents are questioning his ability to be a viable candidate to take on Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., next year.

• But even while not running the day-to-day operations of his businesses, Justice remains at the top of his companies’ leadership structure.

• One of Justice’s three Republican opponents in the 2024 Republican primary for U.S. Senate, 2nd District Rep. Alex Mooney, has hit Justice frequently for his business problems over the last several months.

• “From his properties being auctioned off to courts ordering millions in debt payments, it has been a terrible week for Jim Justice,” said John Findlay, campaign manager for Mooney. “The failed attempt to conceal his finances from voters is the cherry on top of his scandal sundae. At this point, the more difficult question to answer is, ‘What are the other Jim Justice scandals we don’t know about yet?’”

See also: Weekly West Virginia “Battle Royale” Senate Primary Update.

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