Joe Manchin in the news
West Virginia’s senior senator demonstrates who and what are important to him
Bipartisan Joe!
From CNN’s congressional reporter, Manu Ray:
Sen. Joe Manchin entertained a small group of senators on his houseboat this weekend -- and Sen. Lindsey Graham was in attendance, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 2, 2021
Manchin's office declined to comment on the attendance on his boat.
Graham has since tested positive for the coronavirus. Earlier today, Senator Joe commented on barndoors being left open:
Joe Manchin, who hosted a gathering on his boathouse with Graham and others this weekend, told us he thinks all senators should be wearing masks now. There are no mask mandates in the Senate.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 3, 2021
“I think all of us should. In fact, I am right now … take every precaution we can.”
More bipartisanship from WV's senior senator
Investigative journalism from Sludge:
Senators and representatives typically use their leadership PACs to raise and spend money in support of their own party’s candidates. It’s a way to establish themselves as leaders within their caucus and earn party leadership positions and plum committee assignments. But one senator is using his leadership PAC somewhat differently.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.V.) made a $10,000 donation on March 11 from his leadership PAC, Country Roads PAC, to Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s (N.C.) legal defense fund. Burr had been facing a Justice Department investigation over whether his sales of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stocks made after receiving a private briefing on the coronavirus threat in early 2020 constituted violations of insider trading laws. The investigation was concluded in January with no charges.
It’s nearly unheard of for a politician to make a leadership PAC donation to a member of the opposing party. Money-in-politics tracking website OpenSecrets writes in its leadership PACs backgrounder that “Democratic leadership PACs are . . . used to fund fellow Democrats’ campaigns, especially threatened incumbents or challengers trying to win seats that were previously held by the GOP.” Manchin was the only Democrat to make a donation to Burr’s legal defense, according to Sludge’s review of FEC records.
(Emphasis mine.)
Sorry, Senator, but this is not what some of us consider “bipartisan.”
Nothing to see, here -- please keep moving
More investigative reporting on Manchin from FAIR, Vox, and Sludge:
You hear a lot about Sen. Joe Manchin's pivotal role in the climate debate, but you don't hear much about the half million a year Manchin makes selling coal to power plants.https://t.co/02OIzPklAR
— FAIR (@FAIRmediawatch) July 27, 2021
A list of who or what gets Senator Joe Manchin’s attention (revised):
• The Kochs
• Exxon Mobil
• Republicans
• His own bottom line
• (Somewhere near the bottom) West Virginians
