State Attorney General Told to Release Communication with Opioid Firms

Blasting West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey for a “blatant disregard” of state public records laws, a judge has ordered the U.S. Senate candidate to release correspondence with opioid manufacturers.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports Judge Carrie Webster ruled Monday in favor of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The group had requested communications and other office records in October 2017.

Judge Webster’s ruling requires easily furnished records to be released immediately. Others should be released starting Wednesday.

Morrisey used to lobby for Sunovion Pharmaceuticals and an industry trade group. With two weeks to go until Election Day, DSCC spokesman David Bergstein says “voters deserve to know exactly what this former opioid lobbyist was hiding.”

Morrisey’s press secretary Curtis Johnson says the records request is massive and “nothing more than an effort to secure a political hit.”