Federal prosecutors in southern West Virginia say multiple agencies are forming a unit to investigate public corruption and suspected violations of campaign and election laws.
U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart and other agencies announced Tuesday the formation of a Public Integrity Special Investigations Unit.
Among the agencies involved in the unit are the FBI, the IRS, the U.S. departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense and Homeland Security, state police and the state auditor’s office.
Stuart says the secretary of state’s office will help investigate campaign and election law violations. Other investigations that the unit will handle are the misuse of public funds and suspected criminal activity.
He says the unit will focus on potential illegal activity involving both elected officials as well as federal, state and municipal employees.
Stuart calls public corruption “a cancer on our system of government.”
Pres. Donald Trump's Thursday campaign rally in Huntington is expected to draw thousands of not just Trump supporters from the tri-state area, but also…
Pres. Donald Trump’s Thursday campaign rally in Huntington is expected to draw thousands of not just Trump supporters from the tri-state area, but also protestors.
While the city doesn’t have any say in what goes on inside the event, they are responsible for what happens outside, where tensions could run high.
“West Virginians have been conned.”
Forty-two-year-old Amie Maynard is a Huntington native who says while she’s not a registered Democrat, she also didn’t vote for Donald Trump in the previous election.
Now that the president is coming to her hometown, campaigning for a re-election that’s still three years away, Maynard wants to send a message to her fellow West Virginians and the rest of the country.
“We want to let others know that though Trump did have a lot of support in West Virginia, at least around the time of the election, that not all of West Virginia supports him,” she said.
Maynard volunteers with West Virginia Women’s March and Tri-state Indivisible, two groups who have protested the Trump administration in the past and plan to do so again Thursday in Huntington.
City officials have spent just about a week preparing for the campaign rally at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena.
The venue that holds 9,000 people will handle what happens inside and on its front plaza, in coordination with the Secret Service, but what happens on the city streets surrounding the arena, that is up to the Huntington Police Department.
Credit Ashton Marra / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Huntington Communications Director Brian Chambers, right, talks with a citizen about the upcoming Trump rally.
“Our police department has been working with the Secret Service, with various law enforcement agencies in this county and the surrounding region as well to make sure that the president’s visit goes very smoothly, that it goes efficiently, and that everyone from the rally attendees to the protestors are kept safe,” Brian Chambers, communications director for Huntington, said Wednesday.
Maynard said her groups expect anywhere from 20 to 300 protestors to join them at the 4 o’clock rally outside the arena.
They will gather in an area designated for them by the city police—on 3rd Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets—but Chambers said protestors will not be restricted to that area.
Posts on social media since the official announcement of the visit last week have called on Trump supporters to arm themselves against the protesters, with one post saying armed conservatives should “clear them once and for all, by any means necessary.”
Chambers said Huntington Police do not believe anyone will follow through with threats of violence, but officers have been participating in specialized training over the past several days to prepare for the event.
“We feel confident that there will be no incidences, but you always have to be prepared so that is the approach that we have taken,” Chambers said.
Credit Carolyn Kaster / AP Photo
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AP Photo
Pres. Donald Trump spoke with Boy Scouts at the National Jamboree on July 24, 2017.
Maynard also said she and her fellow protestors aren’t worried about the threats and are focused on promoting their stances that differ from the Trump administration.
The president’s campaign stop comes 10 days after Trump’s last visit to the state.
According to a recent Gallup poll, though, Trump’s approval rating is at 60 percent in West Virginia, the highest in the country. Nationally, his approval rating sits at 40 percent.
Senators also debated an election bill on the floor today, one that deals with how the governor is required to fill vacancies in elected offices. The bill…
Senators also debated an election bill on the floor today, one that deals with how the governor is required to fill vacancies in elected offices. The bill is the result of a 2016 resignation in the Senate, one by a former member who changed party affiliation to give Republicans a majority in the chamber.
After the 2014 election, representation in the West Virginia Senate was split between political parties, 17 Republicans and 17 Democrats.
One member, former Sen. Daniel Hall, chose to switch his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican and give the GOP a majority in the chamber for the first time in more than 80 years.
Senate Bill 255 requires the governor to fill a vacated elected position with a person from the party the former official was a member of at the time of his or her resignation. That’s what state law currently says after a 2016 Supreme Court decision in the Daniel Hall case.
Democratic Sen. Corey Palumbo, however, moved to amend the bill Thursday so that vacancies would have to be filled by people from the same party at the time of a person’s election, pointing to the potential for corruption.
“Why would we want to give somebody the opportunity to change parities right before they resign in order to get a political favor for themselves?” Democratic Sen. Mike Romano said in support of Palumbo’s amendment.
Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Trump said the bill sticks to the Supreme Court decision and legislators should keep it the same.
“The people elect a person, they don’t elect a party and we shouldn’t lose sight of that,” he said. “Those of you who are elected are more than the member of single political party. You are a person who lives in a community who represents people, and so to say the only criterion is about political party is incorrect.”
Palumbo, however, argued the will of the voters’ is being overturned by the bill. He said no other state has codified a similar procedure.
“There’s no problem you can invite by saying, if someone changes parties and resigns, we’re going to fill that spot with how they are elected,” he said. “I understand we do elect people, we don’t elect parties necessarily, but people care about your party.”
Palumbo’s amendment failed in the chamber and the bill will be up for a vote tomorrow.
Who are you and what matters to you? What are your hopes for the future under a new US presidency? These are the questions being asked in a new 4-part radio series by the BBC and APM called “The Response: America’s Story”. The series will cover President-elect Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s producing its first episode right here in West Virginia, and West Virginia Public Broadcasting is helping with the launch.
The Response is a very unique sort of radio program. Instead of having political analysts or talking heads tell us their interpretations of the latest election, producers are asking you to share how the latest election might affect you and your family. Producers have been collecting stories from people all over the United States by asking them to send in recorded voice memos using a smart phone.
“Now we do understand that not everyone owns a smart phone,” says BBC producer Kevin Core. You could also borrow one from a friend or a family member. “And just tell a story about your life. What makes you, you? And then, what you want from the President-Elect Donald Trump,” says Core, who will be in West Virginia this week to collect stories and help write the broadcast, which airs Monday January 16th, a few days before the Presidential Inauguration.
So, would you be interested in telling your story to the BBC or sharing your thoughts about President-elect Donald Trump? Grab your smart phone and record a two minute message. Then email your recorded message to theresponse@bbc.co.uk. We can’t wait to hear from you!
West Virginia Public Broadcasting is also hosting an event in Charleston Thursday afternoon, where you can meet the BBC producers and learn more about the radio series.
If you have any questions, you can also email the BBC producers, who can walk you through the process of recording your story. Or you can call Roxy Todd at 304-556-4936.
There were no surprises today as five West Virginia electors cast the state’s official votes for the next president and vice president of the United States.
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant read the five official electoral college votes cast at the Capitol Monday by the state’s members of the electoral college during a ceremony in the House of Delegates chamber.
Credit Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Legislative Photography
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant places an official seal on the electoral ballots.
Former Senate President Bill Cole was one of those five electors, all of whom voted for Trump and Pence.
Others were Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Secretary of State-elect Mac Warner, candidate for Treasurer Ann Urling and Ron Foster, whose wife and son are members of the House of Delegates.
Across the country, electors have been pressured to change their votes to prevent a Trump presidency. Cole said he received thousands of letters calling on him to change his vote.
“The ones that I opened were the ones that were addressed from West Virginia and out of 2-3,000 letters I probably got 10,” Cole said. “Most of them came from California, New York, Florida.”
Other electors also commented that they had received letters and phone calls asking them to change their votes.
A handful of protestors attended the electoral vote in Charleston Monday, holding signs and wearing t-shirts showing their distaste with President-elect Trump.
"I think the only way to have useful conversations across these intense differences is to be able to just tolerate the other person’s position, but not…
“I think the only way to have useful conversations across these intense differences is to be able to just tolerate the other person’s position, but not have an agenda about changing them.”
On this week’s episode of the “Us and Them” podcast, a contentious conversation leads to personal introspection and a look into America’s post-election physical, mental, and spiritual health.
From West Virginia Public Broadcasting, this is “Us and Them,” the podcast where we tell stories from America’s cultural divides.
Subscribe to “Us & Them” on iTunes or however you listen to podcasts.
An edited version of “Us & Them” airs bi-weekly on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s radio network, and the full version is available at wvpublic.org/podcast.
Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you’d like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @usthempodcast or @wvpublic, or reach us on the feedback page at usandthempodcast.com.
