A photo of Gov. Jim Justice, his wife Cathy Justice and the Justice family sits outside the entrance to the governor’s office in the West Wing of the Capitol in Charleston. (Photo by Steven Allen Adams)

CHARLESTON — The refusal by the office of Gov. Jim Justice to turn over his daily schedules going back to his first year in office resulted in the filing of a civil suit by the campaign arm of U.S. Senate Democrats.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced Tuesday morning that it was filing a lawsuit in Kanawha County Circuit Court against Justice, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, after his office refused to turn over records sought by the organization through a Freedom of Information Act request. The committee is seeking Justice’s official schedules going back to 2017.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee FOIA Petition

“Jim Justice cannot hide his work schedule, or lack thereof, from West Virginians, and this is an area which is sure to receive further scrutiny in his nasty primary and in a court of law,” said David Bergstein, a spokesperson for the committee.

Diana Atiz, a research director with the committee, filed a FOIA with the governor’s office on April 13 seeking copies of records for all scheduled meetings involving Justice, Chief of Staff Brian Abraham, Deputy Chief of Staff Ann Urling and General Counsel Berkeley Bentley from January 2017 until the date of the FOIA.

West Virginia’s FOIA law defines “public records” as “any writing containing information prepared or received by a public body, the content or context of which, judged either by content or context, relates to the conduct of the public’s business.” But in an April 20 response to Atiz, Bentley cited exemptions within the state’s FOIA law that allow state officials to withhold certain documents considered drafts or documents used by staff to coordinate both personal and official schedules.

“We have completed our search for and review of the public records in our custody that are responsive to your request,” Bentley wrote to Atiz. “Your request is denied to the extent it seeks records exempt from disclosure …”

The committee is represented by David Fox and Marilyn Robb of the Elias Law Group and Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva, the new vice chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party. In their filing Tuesday, Toriseva argued that the records being requested are not exempt from FOIA and should be released to the public.

“Gov. Jim Justice declared his candidacy for U.S. Senate last month. His actions as governor will no doubt be of keen interest to voters as they decide who they want to support in that race,” Toriseva wrote. “The governor’s office explained that it had located responsive documents in its custody, but it refused to produce a single one. The governor’s office provided no adequate justification for this refusal. Instead, it cited exemptions that do not apply to the requested records and cases from other jurisdictions which do not track West Virginia law.”

Toriseva cited a 2019 article by the Associated Press where reporter Anthony Izaguirre also sought official schedules for the governor’s office, which initially refused, but turned over seven months of official calendars between November and May of that year.

“… His schedule for the past seven months … shows he almost never meets with his cabinet, is rarely at the capital and was largely missing at one of the most critical points of this year’s legislative session,” Izaguirre wrote. “The schedules mostly show him at photo ops or simply unaccounted for.”

Justice has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike over his two terms as governor for infrequent trips to the Capitol and not residing in Charleston as required by the state Constitution. Except during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when he was in his office nearly every day giving video updates to the public, Justice is now at the Capitol at least one day per week for administration briefings where press virtually participate.

“The governor may understandably desire to avoid another round of similar criticism, but he is the chief executive of the state and has the duty to ensure that its laws are faithfully executed,” Torseva wrote. “His office’s refusal to produce the records sought is an open violation of FOIA.”

A request for comment from the governor’s office was not returned.

Roman Stauffer, a former senior adviser to Justice and manager of Justice’s U.S. Senate campaign, called the lawsuit a desperate attempt by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to hurt Justice and help U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., secure the Republican U.S. Senate nomination next year.

“Gov. Jim Justice is the frontrunner in this campaign for U.S. Senate and the polling shows that he beats every other candidate. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are panicking and will do everything they can to prop up Alex Mooney, whom they know they can be easily beat in the general election.”

Justice announced his candidacy for Senate in April. His Republican opponents include Mooney and Chris Rose. The winner could face Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., though the two-term Senator is waiting until the end of the year to announce his re-election intentions.