Judge Who Vacationed With Massey CEO Now Running For Congress

[imurhuckleberry]

April 9, 2010

These aren't the best of days for Don Blankenship, whose systematic downplaying of safety concerns as the CEO of Massey Energy helped lead to last week's deadly mining disaster, and got him named the "seventh scariest person in America." But by next January, things may be looking up for the hard-charging coal boss: He could have a very close friend in Congress.

Elliot "Spike" Maynard is running in the Republican primary to take on Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.V.), whose district encompasses the heart of West Virginia coal country. Maynard, a former State Supreme Court judge, has said that his campaign "is about protecting the coal industry, including all the jobs associated with it," and has charged that Washington Democrats have "declared war on the coal industry."

But Maynard also has personal ties to the industry. He spent part of the summer of 2006 hanging out with Blankenship in Monte Carlo -- at the same time that Massey was appealing a $50 million jury verdict to the court on which Maynard sat. (You can see pictures of the two men living it up on the French Riviera here.) A spokesman for Massey claimed it was a coincidence that the two men were vacationing in the same region. The following year, Maynard voted with the majority in a 3-2 decision in Massey's favor, reversing the jury's verdict.

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