Sept. 23, 2010
EDITORIAL: Will Governor Manchin Be Indicted?
West Virginians are unfortunately too familiar with political chicanery.
High ranking politicians in both major parties have thought themselves
above the law, only to find the law knocking on their door, first with
subpoenas, then with indictments, and then with jail time.
The list grew long, with Governors and Senate Presidents the worst offenders: Barron, Moore, Tonkovich, Tucker. For awhile in the 80s, it seemed like this sad parade for West Virginia would never end. West Virginia was beginning to develop a reputation for crooked politics.
But for the past twenty years, we have not been subjected to this degree of political embarassment as a state. That's not to say that there hasn't been some significant political corruption going on, particularly at the local level.
Still, the Administrations of Caperton, Underwood, and Wise, however imperfect, were not been under serious investigation by federal officials, with the exception of the Lottery Commission towards the end of Caperton's second term. That's progress of a sort.
Just when West Virginia seemed to be turning the corner on our old, bad habit of high-level political corruption, we hear the law knocking on our Governor's door. Twice. The two federal subpoenas have rattled the Statehouse and made West Virginians nervous all over again.
Worse, the Manchin Administration refuses to even tell us the
most basic scope of the federal investigation. They claim that
the federal law won't let them, but that is untrue, as revealed
by the WSAZ investigative report. The law the Manchin
Administration and the Attorney General is hiding behind
applies to U.S. Attorneys conducting an investigation--not
defense counsel, like those in the Attorney General's office.
Whether or not Joe Manchin or Larry Puccio is guilty of
a federal offense, the decision by the Governor and Attorney
General to be uncooperative with WSAZ-TV is at the least
poor judgment. At the worst, it may be an indication that something
terrible is wrong in the Manchin Administration.
Anytime a Democratically controlled U.S. Justice Department has to investigate a Democratic Governor in the middle of that Governor's statewide campaign for U.S. Senate, it has to be rather serious. Otherwise, why embarass one of their own? The investigation is serious with box after box of evidence being taken out of the Statehouse. It doesn't look good.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, as the old saying goes. We urge our fellow members of the press to keep asking questions of our Governor and his staff until they cough up some more information that the people deserve to know.
The people of West Virginia deserve to know if Governor Manchin and his former Chief of Staff, Larry Puccio, are getting rich from the taxpayers through items like the $150 million road project in Fairmont. It's that simple.
And it's time for the state media to get us some answers.
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EDITORIAL: Will Governor Manchin Be Indicted?
West Virginians are unfortunately too familiar with political chicanery.
High ranking politicians in both major parties have thought themselves
above the law, only to find the law knocking on their door, first with
subpoenas, then with indictments, and then with jail time.
The list grew long, with Governors and Senate Presidents the worst offenders: Barron, Moore, Tonkovich, Tucker. For awhile in the 80s, it seemed like this sad parade for West Virginia would never end. West Virginia was beginning to develop a reputation for crooked politics.
But for the past twenty years, we have not been subjected to this degree of political embarassment as a state. That's not to say that there hasn't been some significant political corruption going on, particularly at the local level.
Still, the Administrations of Caperton, Underwood, and Wise, however imperfect, were not been under serious investigation by federal officials, with the exception of the Lottery Commission towards the end of Caperton's second term. That's progress of a sort.
Just when West Virginia seemed to be turning the corner on our old, bad habit of high-level political corruption, we hear the law knocking on our Governor's door. Twice. The two federal subpoenas have rattled the Statehouse and made West Virginians nervous all over again.
Worse, the Manchin Administration refuses to even tell us the
most basic scope of the federal investigation. They claim that
the federal law won't let them, but that is untrue, as revealed
by the WSAZ investigative report. The law the Manchin
Administration and the Attorney General is hiding behind
applies to U.S. Attorneys conducting an investigation--not
defense counsel, like those in the Attorney General's office.
Whether or not Joe Manchin or Larry Puccio is guilty of
a federal offense, the decision by the Governor and Attorney
General to be uncooperative with WSAZ-TV is at the least
poor judgment. At the worst, it may be an indication that something
terrible is wrong in the Manchin Administration.
Anytime a Democratically controlled U.S. Justice Department has to investigate a Democratic Governor in the middle of that Governor's statewide campaign for U.S. Senate, it has to be rather serious. Otherwise, why embarass one of their own? The investigation is serious with box after box of evidence being taken out of the Statehouse. It doesn't look good.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, as the old saying goes. We urge our fellow members of the press to keep asking questions of our Governor and his staff until they cough up some more information that the people deserve to know.
The people of West Virginia deserve to know if Governor Manchin and his former Chief of Staff, Larry Puccio, are getting rich from the taxpayers through items like the $150 million road project in Fairmont. It's that simple.
And it's time for the state media to get us some answers.
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
