DOJ sues household coal enterprise of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice

The Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit towards the coal empire run by the household of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican operating for U.S. Senate.

The go well with names 13 coal firms owned or operated by the Justice household, along with Mr. Justice’s son, James C. Justice III, for allegedly owing greater than $5 million in mixed penalties and costs for greater than 130 environmental and well being violations associated to coal mining. With curiosity and administrative bills, the federal authorities is in search of roughly $7.6 million it says is as a result of Department of Interior.

The authorized motion comes a month after the governor introduced his 2024 candidacy to unseat probably the most weak Senate Democrats up for reelection: Joe Manchin III.

The lawsuit prompted swift accusations from Republicans of political concentrating on by the Biden administration.

“Joe Biden’s Department of Justice has gone totally rogue,” stated Tate Mitchell, a spokesman for the Senate GOP’s marketing campaign arm the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “Democrats weaponizing the federal government to attack the family of a Republican Senate candidate is a complete abuse of power.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, labeled the go well with “utterly brazen.”

“When I said the Biden DOJ is the most political & partisan DOJ in history, I wasn’t kidding,” Mr. Cruz wrote in a tweet.

Donald Trump Jr., son of former President Donald Trump, tweeted: “Did anyone really think that Biden’s weaponization of the DOJ to target his political opponents was going to stop with Trump?”

A marketing campaign spokesperson for Mr. Justice didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Todd Kim, assistant legal professional common for DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division stated prosecutors have been going after the coal firms to guard Americans. 

“Our environmental laws serve to protect communities against adverse effects of industrial activities including surface coal mining operations,” he stated. “Through this suit, the Justice Department seeks to deliver accountability for defendants’ repeated violations of the law and to recover the penalties they owe as a result of those violations.”

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Christopher Kavanaugh stated that after giving discover, the Justice household coal companies “failed to remedy those violations and were ordered over 50 times to cease mining activities until their violations were abated.”

“The filing of this complaint continues the process of holding defendants accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of the public and our environment,” Mr. Kavanaugh stated.

The Justice household coal empire has confronted thousands and thousands of {dollars} in fines and authorized settlements in years previous. Mr. Justice just isn’t named instantly within the civil go well with and separated himself from the household enterprise after taking workplace. However, he reportedly nonetheless performs a task.