U.S. Senator Jim Justice, this week received a Public Letter of Admonition from the Senate Select Committee on Ethics.
The letter dated Tuesday said the committee finds Justice in violation of federal law and Senate rules for failing to disclose information about his personal finances.
“In the six months before your filing deadline, your filing assistant acknowledged six separate Committee communications reminding you of the deadline and offering Committee assistance. Despite these communications, your filing assistant only informed the Committee that you did not intend to file your report less than 30 minutes before the statutory deadline.” read the letter from the Senators to Justice.
The law requires members of the Senate to disclose assets, liabilities, and their sources of income each year by a May 15 deadline. The committee indicated it was the first time since the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 passed that a senator was found in violation of the law for failing to report by the deadline.
“In the 47 years since the governing statue was enacted, the Committee has no record of any other Member failing to file a timely annual financial disclosure report.”
Justice finally filed the report on Sept. 8. The filing indicated a family hardship and family illness with the accountant, which delayed the report.
The story was first reported by the Washington Sun, which published a statement from Justice that his family business was “dealing with a highly complex legal dispute” over the future of the Greenbrier Resort. Justice sold a majority interest in the Greenbrier in August amid mounting debts.
The Senator also told the Sun:
“During this time, our great friend and longtime accountant was dealing with the terminal illness of his wife,” Justice wrote. “Admittedly, we did not fully appreciate the significance of filing the financial disclosure late. Nevertheless, it should have been filed on time, period. It won’t happen again.”