NextGen Challenges Cuccinelli: Were You Briefed on CONSOL or Not?

From NextGen Climate Actoin:

NextGen Challenges Cuccinelli: Were You Briefed on CONSOL or Not?

Arlington, VA – NextGen Climate Action Committee (NextGen) today challenged Ken Cuccinelli to reconcile conflicting media reports about when he was made aware of the lawsuit brought by Southwest Virginia landowners against subsidiaries of CONSOL Energy, a Pennsylvania-based energy company that has donated $110,000 to his gubernatorial campaign.

“Virginia’s voters deserve a straight answer from Ken Cuccinelli about whether he was briefed about his office’s involvement with the legal strategy of this out-of-state company being sued by his constituents,” said Mike Casey, spokesperson for NextGen. “I challenge him to stop dodging questions and come clean to the people of Southwest Virginia about when he knew his office was aiding the company their neighbors were suing, and if that aid was given in exchange for donations to hiscampaign.”

Casey was referring to conflicting reports from the The Associated Press and Roanoke Times on the timeline of when he was made aware of the lawsuit and his level of involvement in the legal aid given to the company.

Cuccinelli said in a September 16 AP story that, “no attorney general can be involved in the hundreds of such cases that his subordinates routinely handle,” claiming that he wasn’t involved in the lawsuit. However, in mid-June, his spokesperson told the Roanoke Times that senior staff briefed him on the lawsuit when the Commonwealth formally intervened in the case.

NextGen is asking Cuccinelli to address the  following questions raised by the conflicting stories:

If you were briefed, what guidance did you give your staff on how to treat the out-of-state company?

*Did you advise your staff to help CONSOL defend against a suit brought by the people the Attorney General’s office is supposed to protect?

*Did you leave this decision up to your staff? If so, why is that staff still working in your office when their actions have been deemed “shocking” by a federal judge?

“Virginians deserve to know exactly what Ken Cuccinelli and his staff did on behalf of CONSOL Energy after Cuccinelli’s campaign received $110,000 from CONSOL, ” said Casey. “Virginia is known for clean government and it’s outrageous that the Attorney General running for Governor won’t answer basic questions about his potentially

corrupt conduct.”

For a timeline of CONSOL Energy donations and action by the Cuccinelli’s office, please visit the webpage.