Federal prosecutors say a 49-year-old Barboursville man has been indicted on charges he threatened to kill U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says Steven Anthony Major was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury in Charleston. He is accused of making four separate threats to kill Manchin. The threats allegedly occurred from March 17 through March 20.
Major was arrested on March 21 after prosecutors said he made calls to the West Virginia Democrat’s Charleston and Washington, D.C., offices. The government says Major identified himself and also made violent threats against Manchin family members.
Major faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on each count.
A listing for Major could not be found in the Barboursville area and his public defender was not available on Tuesday.
Tag: Joe Manchin
W.Va. Man Charged with Threatening U.S. Sen. Manchin
A West Virginia man has been arrested on charges of making violent threats against U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin and his family.
U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that 49-year-old Steven Anthony Major of Barboursville was arrested Friday. In a criminal complaint, FBI Special Agent Jason Bollinger says Major made multiple calls to Manchin’s Washington, D.C., and Charleston offices from March 17-20.
The complaint says Major identified himself in the calls and threatened Manchin and his wife and children.
An FBI news release says Major faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. It wasn’t immediately known whether Major has an attorney.
Manchin, a Democrat, won a 2010 special election after the death of Robert C. Byrd, then was elected to a full six-year term in 2012.
Manchin Proposes Ban on Zohydro
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has introduced a bill that would force the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw the heavily criticized painkiller Zohydro, which has sparked a national debate about the abuse of pain medications.
Zohydro is the first single-ingredient hydrocodone drug ever cleared for U.S. patients. The extended-release pill contains up to five times more of the narcotic hydrocodone than older combination pills, such as Vicodin.
Manchin and other lawmakers have argued that the drug could be easily abused without a tamper-proof formulation. His bill would also prohibit the FDA from approving similar medications without such abuse-resistant features.
The announcement comes just hours after the FDA’s commissioner testified in the Senate that Zohydro met the government’s standards for safety and efficacy.
Manchin Looks Into Pay-To-Play-With-FDA Allegations
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia continues to express concern about alleged meetings between pharmaceutical manufacturers and officials at the…
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia continues to express concern about alleged meetings between pharmaceutical manufacturers and officials at the Food and Drug Administration who oversee safety regulations of painkiller medicine.
In the latest pay-to-play allegations on FDA approval of some highly addictive painkillers, Senator Manchin and Republican Senator David Vitter from La., sent a letter to the Dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester. The letter is in regard to reports that the university hosted meetings where pharmaceutical manufacturers paid upwards of 30k per event to be able to meet with FDA officials.
The FDA recently approved Zohydro ER—a controversial new prescription painkiller—which has up to 10 times as much hydrocodone as Vicodin in an easily crushable form that can be snorted or injected.
The senators’ letter seeks clarity in understanding the role played by University of Rochester employees, federal employees, and pharmaceutical companies in altering the FDA’s approval process including information on payment transfers and lists of attendees.
Rockefeller, Manchin Team with Calif. Senator to Introduce Federal Chemical Spill Prevention Bill
Tuesday morning U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin teamed up with Sen. Barbara Boxer of California (Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee) to introduce the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act, which gathers into one place the tools to provide oversight of chemical facilities.
The Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act includes common sense measures designed to ensure industrial facilities are properly inspected by state officials and both the chemical industry and emergency response agencies are prepared for future chemical incidents or emergencies.
Senators Rockefeller, Manchin, and Boxer said the bill would strengthen states’ ability to prevent chemical spills like the January 9th spill that contaminated the water supply in nine West Virginia counties and impacted more than 300,000 West Virginians.
Key principles in the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act include:
• Requiring regular state inspections of above-ground chemical storage facilities,
• Requiring industry to develop state-approved emergency response plans that meet at least minimum guidelines established in this bill,
• Allowing states to recoup costs incurred from responding to emergencies, and
• Ensuring drinking water systems have the tools and information to respond to emergencies.
“No West Virginian or American should have to worry about the contamination of their water supply from a chemical spill. This common sense bill makes sure all chemicals are appropriately monitored and protects the safety of the water we consume and use every day, ” said Manchin.
Boxer said the concern over access to clean safe water is “critical.”
“Our legislation makes it clear that if a chemical poses a risk to a water supply, it will be subject to safe practices so we won’t see this anxiety unleashed again,” she said in a joint statement released by the lawmakers Tuesday morning.
“It’s clear more could have been done more to protect the water supply for hundreds of thousands of West Virginians,” Senator Rockefeller said.
“This bill takes a first step toward bringing accountability to companies in the state while protecting West Virginia families and our state’s economy,” Rockefeller added.
Sen. Manchin Wants America (Mostly) Out of Afghanistan By Year's End
In a press conference call with reporters Tuesday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) made a passionate case to bring most American forces back from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Manchin says after this year, American forces should only be at Bagram Airfield in that country. It is the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
Manchin says that both his frustrations with the American nation’s financial instability, along with the nation’s lengthy stay in that country, are reasons for his feelings.
“I’m of the mindset that all of the money and all of the military might in the world will not change that part of the world,” Manchin said ardently in a conference call.
“We should not be there. I’m happy to leave and say adios. 2014, it’s over, you’re on your own.”
Manchin says instead America’s infrastructure needs help, and finances should go to that. That includes training the workforce for new jobs.
Manchin’s pleas to leave Afghanistan have made him a target for political attacks in the past. This CBS News story examines that issue.
