The Senate Select Committee on Ethics issued a public letter of admonition to Sen. Jim Justice after finding the billionaire lawmaker in violation of “federal law and Senate Rules” stemming from his failure to properly disclose details about his personal finances.
“The public must feel confident that Members never place personal financial interests ahead of the best interests of the United States,” committee Chair James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) and Vice Chair Chris Coons (D-Delaware) wrote in the letter, dated Nov. 10. “Your actions failed to uphold that standard, resulting in harm to the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate and a violation of federal law.”
Lawmakers are required by law to submit an annual report listing their assets, liabilities and sources of income by May 15. Justice failed to do so, The Washington Sun first reported, despite asking for and receiving two extensions, which pushed his deadline to Aug. 13.
It is the first time since the passage of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 that the committee has found a senator in violation of federal law for failure to report their finances by the legal deadline, the ethics committee stated.
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“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,” the Senators wrote. “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.”
Justice ultimately submitted his report on Sept. 8. The ethics committee’s letter provides some insight into the cause of the late filing.
“While you recently made the Committee aware that your personal accountant and filing assistant experienced a significant family hardship in the final months before your filing deadline, circumstances for which the Committee has great compassion, this does not abrogate your personal responsibility as a U.S. Senator to comply with governing federal law,” the letter reads.
Following publication of this article, Justice told The Sun in a statement that his family business was “dealing with a highly complex legal dispute” over the future of the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. Justice sold a large share of the resort in August, The Sun previously reported.
“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.”
The public scolding does not constitute a formal punishment under Senate practices. The Senate Ethics Committee has not formally sanctioned a lawmaker over their behavior in over two decades, The Sun reported earlier this year.
This article has been updated to include comment from Sen. Jim Justice.
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