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Justice fields questions about pet dog in mural, business woes

Gov. Jim Justice and Babydog dedicated the new State Capitol Building murals on West Virginia Day last week. (Photo by Steven Allen Adams)

CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice fielded questions Wednesday from the press over the addition of his pet English bulldog Babydog to a mural in the State Capitol Building, as well as the possible liquidation of several of his businesses by federal court order.

Speaking during his weekly virtual briefing with press Wednesday morning from the State Capitol Building, Justice confirmed that he did not direct his staff to include Babydog in one of four murals in the Capitol’s upper rotunda depicting West Virginia’s history and culture that were first dedicated last week during West Virginia Day festivities.

The four murals depict historic Harper’s Ferry and the John Brown fort; the battle of Philippi during the Civil War; an allegorical scene based on the State Seal; and artists, musicians, and wildlife at the base of Seneca Rocks. The murals are supposed to be based on ideas and concepts that famed Capitol architect Cass Gilbert had wanted to include in the building, but was unable to due to costs during the start of the Great Depression.

The Governor’s Office released the artist renderings of the murals in April, but an ad hoc committee made up of two cabinet secretaries, two officials in the Governor’s Office, and the director of the State Museum recommended changes to the murals by Connecticut-based John Canning and Co. Those changes involved adding Babydog to the Seneca Rocks mural.

When the murals were officially unveiled last Thursday, no mention was made of Babydog being included in the mural. But the dog’s appearance was noticed over the weekend and went viral. Despite the involvement of the Governor’s Office, Justice said he was unaware of the dog’s inclusion.

“I wasn’t a party to putting Babydog in the mural,” Justice said. “I think what they were trying to do was they wanted to put a dog in and they had to pick some kind of dog, so they picked an English bulldog…I was just as surprised in many ways as anyone.”

The driving force behind the murals — Department of Arts, Culture and History Cabinet Secretary Randall Reid-Smith — has defended the inclusion of Babydog in the murals and the process behind the murals, the final concepts which were never approved by the Capitol Building Commission.

“Thank you to everybody in the press, because people are coming to see those murals because of Babydog because they love her,” Reid-Smith said. “The only involvement that Jim Justice had in these murals was he gave us the money to pay for these murals that had not been done in 92 years. You had nothing to do with our little ad hoc committee.”

“Babydog has brought a lot of happiness all across the state and I love it in every way that she’s brought that level of happiness,” Justice said. “Do we not have other stuff that is a little more important to be doing? Really and truly…she’s brought a lot of joy. There will be a lot of people who will come in the Capitol to look at the murals and look for her. It’s kind of a neat thing. I love it.”

Justice was also asked about an order issued last week by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Andrews in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware allowing for the liquidation of Bluestone Minerals Inc., wholly owned by Justice’s Bluestone Resources. Bluestone Minerals is a holding company for five other Justice-owned companies: National Resources Inc., Bluestone Coal Sales Corp., Nufac Mining Co. Inc., Frontier Coal Co., and Kentucky Fuel Corp.

The order, issued last Thursday, requires the sale of Bluestone Minerals to satisfy a judgment in 2021 in favor of Caroleng Investments Ltd., a company based in the British Virgin Islands and the parent company of Russian mining and steel company Mechel.

Justice sold his coal mining interests in Bluestone Resources to Mechel in 2009 for $578 million in cash and stock. Justice bought Bluestone Resources back in 2015 for $5 million. Justice agreed to pay Caroleng Investments royalty payments as part of the deal to buy back the coal company from Mechel based on a per-ton of coal sold as well as a certain percentage of any future sales. But Caroleng Investments filed suit against Justice after his companies started withholding the royalty payments.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued a judgment in 2021 in favor of Caroleng Investments for $10.1 million, including $8.4 million in a final award and $1.7 million in pre-award interest. The court also set a 9% interest rate retroactive to May 13, 2020, as long as the amount remains unpaid.

Justice turned over day-to-day management of his coal, agriculture, and hospitality businesses to his two adult children. But Justice has personally guaranteed multi-million-dollar loans for his companies during his time as governor with legal cases by those financial institutions still pending.

When asked about the court order Wednesday, Justice called any stories about it a “hit job.”

“You need to stay tuned and watch what happens,” Justice said. “It’s just something else for us to throw mud at Jim about.”

Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com

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