What They’re Saying: DSCC Files New Legal Actions Requesting Court Immediately Order Jim Justice to Release Work Schedule

This week, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) filed a new motion requesting the Circuit Court of Kanawha County immediately order Jim Justice’s office to release records pertaining to the Governor’s official schedule or official calendar from January 2017 to present and opposing his motion to dismiss the case. The DSCC’s underlying lawsuit against Justice over his refusal to release his work schedule is available here. 

A wave of reporting has highlighted how Justice has been “scrutinized over the lack of proper accounting of his whereabouts” as Governor, getting “hit for rarely being at the statehouse and not meeting with his cabinet officials, instead opting for photo ops or largely being unaccounted for.”

Here’s what they’re saying: 

WV News: DSCC seeks quick resolution to West Virginia Gov. Justice public calendar request
By Steven Allen Adams
July 26, 2023

Key Points: 

• The campaign arm representing the Democratic caucus in the U.S. Senate is seeking a quick ruling as it tries to obtain the public calendar and schedule for Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican Senate candidate, and key staff in the governor’s office.
  
  
• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a motion for summary judgment Wednesday in Kanawha County Circuit Court seeking a decision by Judge Jennifer Bailey to grant access to records for all scheduled meetings involving Justice, Chief of Staff Brian Abraham, Deputy Chief of Staff Ann Urling and General Counsel Berkeley Bentley going back to January 2017 when Justice first took office.

The Messenger: DSCC Files New Motion Against Jim Justice Seeking His Work Schedule 
By Matt Holt
July 26, 2023

Key Points:

• The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of Senate Democrats, filed a new motion Wednesday requesting that the Kanawha County Circuit compel West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice to release his official schedule or calendar from when he took office in January 2017. 
  

• The DSCC filed an initial lawsuit against Justice in May, arguing that the Governor’s office has not complied with requests for his schedule under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the law that allows the public the right to request access to records from government agencies. 
  

• On July 14th, the deadline for Justice to respond to the lawsuit, his lawyers filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the Governor’s calendar is not a public record subject to FOIA laws. The motion to dismiss states that “any calendars or notes containing the scheduled official meetings of the Governor and his senior staff are maintained exclusively for their respective personal convenience.” 
  

• The new motion from the DSCC argues that because Justice is now a candidate for Senate, his actions as Governor “will no doubt be of keen interest to voters as they decide who they will support in that race,” and “the denial to produce these public records appears calculated to attempt to benefit” Justice politically. 
  

• “Jim Justice cannot continue to hide his work schedule—or lack thereof—from West Virginians. We fully expect Justice’s schedule will receive further scrutiny in his nasty primary and in a court of law,” said DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman Baity. 
  

• In 2019, a report from the Associated Press said that Justice “almost never meets with his Cabinet, is rarely at the capital, and was largely missing at one of the most critical points of this year’s legislative session.” 
  

• Justice … will have to defeat Rep. Alex Mooney in the GOP primary, who has the support of the Club for Growth, an influential GOP anti-tax group that has raised $13.5 million to support Mooney in the primary. 
  

• Democrats … launch[ed] an opposition research website highlighting Mooney’s attacks against the governor, highlighting unpaid bills from Justice’s coal companies, and pursuing the DSCC lawsuit. 

National Journal: Hotline’s Latest Edition
West Virginia: A Battle for Jim Justice’s Missing Schedules 
By Kirk A. Bado
July 27, 2023

Key Points: 

• The DSCC has filed a new motion asking Gov. Jim Justice’s (R) office to release his official schedule between the time he took office in 2017 until now.  
  

• WHY THEY’RE MAD. Justice has been scrutinized over the lack of proper accounting of his whereabouts during the course of his two terms as governor. He has been hit for rarely being at the statehouse and not meeting with his cabinet officials, insteading opting for photo ops or largely being unaccounted for.
  
  
• DSCC SPOX SAYS: “Jim Justice cannot continue to hide his work schedule—or lack thereof—from West Virginians. We fully expect Justice’s schedule will receive further scrutiny in his nasty primary and in a court of law.”

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