Patrick Morrisey claims to be WV’s attorney general but whom does Patrick Morrisey really work for?

How about the Indiana AG? Yesterday, from a group called Veterans for Trump:

Just got off the phone with AG Patrick Morrisey running for Gov in WV - he has been working on legal in Indiana to keep Trump on the ballot - we have endorsed Patrick for Gov and we strongly encourage you to visit his website and support his run

— Stan Fitzgerald Veterans for Trump, Legacy PAC (@RealSFitzgerald) January 2, 2024

Additionally, the “Veterans” tell us that Morrisey (“one of the country’s greatest AG’s”) will also appear in a podcast with Donald Trump Jr. which I’m sure will be memorable.

Indiana? West Virginia? Whom does Morrisey work for? It’s a trick question – obviously, Morrisey’s first obligation is to Donald Trump.

WV’s secretary of state, Mac Warner, doesn’t care – he’ll do an interview with anybody who asks

NFSC stands for the New Federal State of China and it is, according to Wikipedia, a “political movement or lobby group created by Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon, with the stated aim of overthrowing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as the Chinese government.”

NFSC Interview with West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner: What the CCP has done in China is just so devastating to so many people and it needs to be taken down! Everything the CCP stands for is anti-America! pic.twitter.com/CzSWLNLybB

— NFSC Speaks (@NFSCSpeak) January 2, 2024

Mother Jones did an excellent article earlier this summer on the group’s connections to prominent American politicians. From the article:

The New Federal State of China, a conspiracy theory-promoting group launched in 2020 by Steve Bannon and exiled Chinese mogul Guo Wengui, who the Justice Department has indicted for running a massive fraud scheme, held its gala third-anniversary event in June. Among the mostly Chinese emigres at the event were some notable House Republicans.

Moving beyond Steve Bannon, the article notes that representative Paul Gosar and former rep George Santos attended the event. The article describes the NFSC as quite the conspiratorial group, although I can see how Warner would fit in. Of course, the obvious question is what connection this has to someone running for governor of West Virginia or for that matter, the WV Secretary of State’s office. I don't see any.

Inquiring minds want to know: are there any checks/safeguards on who can receive money from West Virginia’s unclaimed property fund or is it simply decided by the state treasurer?

Four weeks ago, the WV’s treasurer, Riley Moore, spoke to steelworkers in Weirton. Ogden reporter, Christopher Dacanay covered* the event for the Weirton Daily Times:

[President of United Steelworkers Local 2911 Mark] Glyptis thanked Moore for his previous work with the USW, which was spurred on after 300 union workers and management employees, or one-third of the total workforce, were laid off at the Cleveland-Cliffs tin mill earlier this year — layoffs Glyptis said are undoubtedly a result of illegal dumping activities.

Those laid off were given a 26-week unemployment benefit period, Glyptis said. USW reached out to legislators for help extending the period, at which point Moore took up the cause as treasurer and “went way beyond what (he) needed to do.”

Moore noted he was bound by law from extending the benefit period but, through his office, was able to acquire unclaimed property that was then given to the workers in small checks during the continuing period.

Okay, readers – can someone help me with this? Isn’t there a specific procedure for the assignment of money from the unclaimed property fund? The laid off steelworkers may have been deserving but does the treasurer have that kind of discretion in directing funds from the state treasury? More to the point, how is this different from buying votes?

*As required in all Ogden Riley Moore articles: we learn, early in the article, that Moore is a “former welder.”