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Don Blankenship

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Don Blankenship
Picture of Don Blankenship
Blankenship in 2010
Born
Donald Leon Blankenship

(1950-03-14) March 14, 1950 (age 74)
Stopover, Kentucky, U.S.
EducationMarshall University (Bachelor degree)
Known forFormer CEO of Massey Energy
Upper Big Branch Mine disaster
West Virginia Republican primary Senate candidate
Political partyConstitution (2018–present)[1]
Republican (until 2018)
Criminal charge(s)Conspiracy to violate mine safety and health standards
Criminal penalty1 year in federal prison
$250,000 fine
Children2
WebsiteOfficial website

Donald Leon Blankenship (born March 14, 1950) is an American former business executive, convicted criminal and third-party candidate for the United States Senate in West Virginia in 2018. He was Chairman and CEO of the Massey Energy Company—the sixth largest coal company (by 2008 production) in the United States[2]—from 2000 until his retirement in 2010.[3] A federal grand jury indicted Blankenship on November 13, 2014 for conspiracy to violate mandatory federal mine safety and health standards and conspiracy to impede federal mine safety officials. On August 14, 2018, Blankenship made a statement outlining claims that the the US Department of Justice's "Office of Professional Responsibility" found that the prosecutors who worked to convict Blankenship, "Ruby and Goodwin[,] failed to disclose sixty-one memoranda of witness interviews..." and thus committed “professional misconduct”[4]

As a result of the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster, in which 29 miners were killed, he faced up to 30 years in prison on several charges including felony conspiracy.[5] On December 3, 2015, Blankenship was found guilty of one misdemeanor charge of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety and health standards.[6] In April 2016, he was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $250,000, and reported to FCI Taft the next month.[7] In January 2017, his appeal of his conviction was rejected by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.[8] He was released from prison on May 10, 2017.[9]

Blankenship continues to claim his innocence,[10][11] and has started to participate actively in local and state politics, after years of participating as a donor in his home state of West Virginia.[12] He has frequently spoken out about politics, the environment, unions, and coal production. In 2018 Blankenship lost a three-way Republican primary to Patrick Morrisey.[13] Citing false information, dirty politics and a personal unwillingness to quit,[14] Blankenship is now running as the Constitution Party nominee for the U.S. Senate.[15][16]

Early life and education

Blankenship was born in Stopover, Kentucky and raised in Delorme, West Virginia. His father served in the Korean War and his mother, Nancy McCoy, was a member of the McCoy family; they divorced soon after Don was born, and Don's mother ran a convenience store and gas station with her divorce settlement money for 40 years.[17] After graduating from Matewan High School in Matewan, West Virginia in 1968, he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Marshall University in 1972 in just three school years, having worked as a union coal miner during summers and even taking a year off school.[18][19][20] He was the recipient of Marshall University's "Most Distinguished Alumni" award and inducted into the Lewis College of Business Hall of Fame in 1999.[21]

Blankenship is certified as a public accountant.[22] In 2002, he was inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Business and Industry Hall of Fame[23] and recognized by the West Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants as an Outstanding Member in Business and Industry.[21] Blankenship was also inducted into the Tug Valley Mining Institute Hall of Fame.[22]

Early career

Blankenship joined a Massey subsidiary, Rawl Sales & Processing Co., in 1982. Since then he has served the company in a number of capacities.[24][25] He was promoted to president of Massey Coal Services, Inc. (1989–1991), then president and chief operating officer from 1990 to 1991.[26] In 1992, Blankenship was named president, chairman of the board of A.T. Massey.[26] He is the first non-Massey family member to be in charge of the company. When A.T. Massey was spun off from Fluor Corporation as Massey Energy in 2000,[27] Blankenship became the newly independent company's chairman and CEO. On December 3, 2010, Blankenship announced that he was retiring as CEO at the end of the year and would be succeeded by Massey President Baxter F. Phillips Jr.[28]

In 1996, Blankenship was elected to the board of directors of engineering and construction company Fluor Corporation.[29] He also serves as a director of the Center for Energy and Economic Development, a director of the National Mining Association, Mission West Virginia Inc, and was on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of directors.[24][30][31]

Coal mining

Upper Big Branch explosion

Main article: Upper Big Branch Mine disaster

On April 5, 2010, an explosion at Massey's Upper Big Branch mine killed 29 miners. It was the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970, when an explosion killed 38 in Hyden, Kentucky. In 2006, a fatal accident at Aracoma Alma (also owned by Massey Coal Co.) was one of the explosions prompting Congress to upgrade federal mine safety laws for the first time since 1977.[32] As Blankenship came under increased scrutiny, a Business Week article said that he had a reputation for resistance to spending money, willingness to litigate, and personally going into mines to persuade workers to abandon union organizing efforts.[33] On April 12, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund which holds 303,550 shares of Massey stock worth about $14.1 million, called for Blankenship to resign immediately. "Massey's cavalier attitude toward risk and callous disregard for the safety of its employees has exacted a horrible cost on dozens of hard-working miners and their loved ones," DiNapoli said in a public statement reported by Reuters and others. "This tragedy was a failure both of risk management and effective board oversight. Blankenship must step down and make room for more responsible leadership at Massey."[34] On April 22, Massey Energy's lead independent director Bobby R. Inman announced that "Blankenship has the full support and confidence of the Massey Energy Board of Directors."[35] On April 25, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and state officials paid tribute to the 29 coal miners at a memorial service in Beckley, West Virginia.[36]

The former superintendent of a U.S. mine at the time of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion pleaded guilty in March 2011 to a federal fraud charge. "Prosecutors said Massey manipulated the ventilation system during inspections of the Upper Big Branch mine to fool safety officials and disabled a methane monitor on a cutting machine a few months before the explosion on April 5, 2010.... ...Prosecutors have refused to say whether they are targeting former Massey CEO Don Blankenship, whose company was cited for violations so frequently that union critics accused him of regarding fines as simply the cost of doing business....[37]

In March 2013, at a plea hearing in a federal court, Blankenship was directly implicated in conspiring to skirt safety regulations. A former Massey Energy official accused Blankenship of conspiring and plotting to hide safety violations from federal safety inspectors. The implication was that Blankenship would order his officials to warn mine operators when the federal inspectors were coming for "surprise" visits, and to quickly cover up any safety violations.[38]

Blankenship was convicted of a single misdemeanor charge of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards and went on to serve a one-year prison sentence. He called himself a "political prisoner", feuded with United States Senator Joe Manchin and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) over the explosion,[39] considered running against Manchin for the Senate,[40] and called for a new investigation into the explosion.[41] On May 25, 2017, he formally appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. His petition argued that the U.S. District Court in Charleston and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, "both erred in rulings, and they claim Blankenship was a victim of politics."[42]

In August 2017, Blankenship funded a television ad featuring the sister of one of the miners killed in the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion. The sister, Gwen Thomas, asks in the ad "if the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration insisted that changes be made which reduced Upper Big Branch’s airflow before the explosion." She asks the government to publicly release the gas analyses taken after the explosion, and she asks for help from President Donald Trump and U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) in getting answers.[43]

McCoy Coal Group

In 2011, Blankenship incorporated a coal company in Kentucky named McCoy Coal Group (not to be confused with the James River Coal Company subsidiary McCoy-Elkhorn Coal Corp). McCoy has yet to seek mining permits.[44]

Blankenship was paid $17.8 million in 2009, the highest in the coal industry. It was a $6.8 million raise over 2008, and almost double his compensation package in 2007. Blankenship also received a deferred compensation package valued at $27.2 million in 2009.[45]

Controversies

A former employee of Blankenship, Deborah May, similarly filed a lawsuit claiming that stress from personal abuse forced her to quit her job in November 2005. The lawsuit claimed that such comparatively minor mistakes as a wrong breakfast order from McDonald's, misplaced ice cream in the freezer, and an improperly hung jacket in the closet caused difficulties with Blankenship.[46] In June 2008, West Virginia's top court ruled that May was entitled to unemployment benefits because "the unrefuted evidence" showed that Blankenship "physically grabbed" the maid, threw food after she brought back the wrong fast-food order, and tore a tie rack and coat hanger out of a closet after she forgot to leave the hanger out for his coat. "This shocking conduct" showed May was in effect fired because she felt compelled to quit, the justices said.[47]

When groundwater pollution from coal slurry injection by Massey Energy began contaminating wells around Blankenship's home, Massey paid to build a water line to it from a neighboring town. Blankenship did not offer to provide uncontaminated water to any of his neighbors, nor did he inform them of the problem.[48]

Campaign against Warren McGraw

In 2004, Blankenship contributed $3 million to the "And For The Sake of the Kids" PAC, campaigning against the reelection of West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw. Brent Benjamin went on to defeat McGraw in the general election. Speaking about the election, Blankenship said, "I helped defeat a judge who had released a pedophile to work in a local school, who had driven doctors out of state, and who had cost workers their jobs for thirty plus years. I think this effort helped unchain West Virginia's economy and benefited working families."[49] USA Today called Blankenship's ads "venomous."[50] According to a USA Today editorial dated March 3, 2009, Blankenship "vividly illustrated how big money corrupts judicial elections. It puts justice up for sale to the highest bidder."[50]

Washington political journalist Michael Tomasky, also a native West Virginian, claimed that Blankenship was "famous in West Virginia as the man who successfully bought himself a State Supreme Court Justice in 2004 and then tried to buy himself the state legislature, failing spectacularly at the latter effort."[51]

In his 2008 book Coal River, Michael Shnayerson reports that no such foundation was ever set up and that Blankenship's tactics didn't help other Republicans in the state. In 2006, the $3 million that he provided to forty Republican challengers to Democratic state legislators brought just a single victory.[52] Although Blankenship was the primary donor to "And For the Sake of Kids," other groups, including Doctors for Justice, contributed over $1 million to ASK. Another group, Citizens for Quality Health Care, funded in part by the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, spent over $350,000 to defeat McGraw.[53] Meanwhile, several groups spent millions opposing Benjamin and supporting McGraw, including West Virginia Consumers for Justice and Hugh Caperton, CEO of Harmon Development Corporation.[54] Blankenship is featured in Laurence Leamer's 2013 book The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption[55] and in Peter Galuszka's 2012 book Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets Behind Big Coal.[56]

Conflict of interest with Spike Maynard

On January 15, 2008, photographs of Blankenship vacationing on the French Riviera with West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard, while Massey had a case pending before that court, appeared in the New York Times.[57] On April 3, 2008, ABC News reported that Blankenship attacked an ABC News photographer at a Massey facility near Belfry, Kentucky as the photographer attempted to question Blankenship about the photos. "If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot!" Blankenship stated in the video.[58] Maynard later lost his bid for reelection to the West Virginia Supreme Court in the primary election.[59] On February 14, 2009, Blankenship told the New York Times, "I've been around West Virginia long enough to know that politicians don't stay bought, particularly ones that are going to be in office for 12 years... So I would never go out and spend money to try to gain favor with a politician. Eliminating a bad politician makes sense. Electing somebody hoping he's going to be in your favor doesn't make any sense at all."[60]

Comments on Mitch McConnell

In April 2018, Blankenship released an ad in which he calls Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell "cocaine Mitch", urging potential voters to "ditch" McConnell.[61] In May 2018, he released another ad attacking McConnell, his wife, Elaine Chao, and his in-laws as his "China family", and again called McConnell "cocaine Mitch".[62][63] The premise of the moniker was that McConnell's father-in-law owns a shipping company that in 2014 was found to have 90 pounds of cocaine on one of its vessels set to leave Colombia.[64] The Colombian authorities did not accuse the company of conspiring to transport the cocaine, and the company was never investigated for the matter. McConnell, who has no role in the operation of his father-in-law's shipping business, was never suspected by any authorities of having any involvement in the incident. The Washington Post's Fact Checker column investigated the "cocaine Mitch" claims and gave them a "Four Pinocchios" rating, concluding that "Blankenship has no evidence to support his crude and incendiary attack."[65] After Blankenship lost his primary race, an official campaign account for McConnell posted a photoshopped picture of McConnell surrounded by a cloud of cocaine dust with the accompanying text, "Thanks for playing, Don."[66] The picture was based on promotional materials for the Netflix TV show Narcos.

When asked if Blankenship's rhetoric in the "China Family" political ad was racist, McConnell suggested that his answer would depend on the results of the Republican primary election.[67] When pressed on the ad's alleged racism, Blankenship said that his ad was not racist because the Chinese are not a race. He said, "Races are Negro, White Caucasian, Hispanic, and Asian."[68] Some commentators highlighted the irony of Blankenship using the outdated word "Negro" (now widely seen as offensive) in defending himself against allegations of racism.[69]

Political positions

Views

Blankenship is a Republican and an active participant in West Virginia politics.[70] During a speech at the Tug Valley Mining Institute on November 20, 2008, Blankenship called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Harry Reid and former Vice President Al Gore "crazies" and "greeniacs."[71]

In a 1980s documentary, he stated "It's like a jungle, where a jungle is survival of the fittest. Unions, communities, people — everybody's gonna have to learn to accept that in the United States you have a capitalist society, and that capitalism, from a business standpoint, is survival of the most productive."[72] Blankenship has spoken out against media coverage and alleged false attacks by "liberal media". He has also said "the truth needs to be told about what happened at the Upper Big Branch coal mine" and claimed that a single individual from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration was chosen to investigate the disaster.[73]

Support of various advocacy groups

Blankenship supports Friends of Coal, a West Virginia advocacy group founded as a countermeasure to environmental protection movements, in opposition to President Obama's "war on coal".[74] He later released statements urging President Trump to avoid legislation enacting harsher punishment for coal mine supervisors that violate health and safety protocols, saying that "coal supervisors are not criminals", and that harsher laws would not improve mine safety.

In 2016, Blankenship supported conservative advocacy groups to remove Democrats from Legislature.[75] That same year, Blankenship was criticized by Hillary Clinton's campaign camp after his appearance at her campaign stop in Williamson, West Virginia.[76]

Climate change

In his speech at the Tug Valley Mining Institute, he also stated, "I don't believe climate change is real."[77] He associated President Jimmy Carter's support for energy conservation in the 1970s with communism: "Buy a smaller car? Conserve? I have spent quite a bit of time in Russia and China, and that's the first stage." Blankenship's views on global warming were reiterated in interviews conducted by The Hill and Forbes.[78][79]

In a letter to the editor of The Charleston Gazette dated October 30, 2009, Blankenship denied that climate change, or global warming, existed, and stated: "Why should we trust a report by the United Nations? The United Nations includes countries like Venezuela, North Korea and Iran." [80] According to Blankenship, "the environmental movement isn't a great cause, it's a great business", and in addition to lying about the Upper Big Branch mine disaster, the government has also lied "about the science of global warming."[81]

In 2018, Blankenship admitted at a Senate campaign townhall that "climate change is probably a fact", but added that American-made climate change is not, stating that China's increase in coal production over America's has had a greater impact.[82]

Mine safety

At a 2009 Labor Day rally in West Virginia,[83] Blankenship said that federal and state mining regulators are ineffective at improving mine safety, and that the mining companies themselves are better suited to the task and should have less oversight,[84] saying, "Washington and state politicians have no idea how to improve miners' safety."[85]

In his 2018 Senate campaign, despite having been convicted of willfully violating mine safety and health standards in his operations at Massey Energy, Blankenship blamed the federal regulators of the MSHA for the Upper Big Branch Disaster for directing airflow targets in the mine.[86]

2018 United States Senate campaign

Blankenship entered the Republican primary in the 2018 United States Senate election in West Virginia, challenging incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin. His entry was controversial due to his role in the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, though he was still popular for his support of the coal industry.[87] His campaign platform included maintaining that he was innocent of previous allegations and that the mine explosion was caused by the negligence of Mine Safety and Health Administration officials.[88][89] His television ads were aimed at "getting the truth out" about the Upper Big Branch explosion and "exposing the government cover-up."[90] The ads further claimed Blankenship had documents showing that the MSHA Upper Big Branch internal report was falsified and that the company was forced by the MSHA to use a defective ventilation system.[91][92] There is no evidence to support these claims.[91] Blankenship also expressed the belief that Donald Trump's proposed Mexico-United States border wall in conjunction ending sanctuary cities would help stop drug trafficking.[93]

Blankenship said he was "Trumpier than Trump" but that "the establishment" was "misinforming him" because they did not want him "to be in the U.S. Senate and promote the president's agenda." The national Republican leadership and allied groups made statements and ran ads against Blankenship,[94] and the day before the Republican primary, Trump posted a tweet urging voters to vote for either of Blankenship's major primary opponents, Evan Jenkins and Patrick Morrisey, because Blankenship would not be competitive in the general election.[95] Trump's tweet came in the wake of reporting that internal Republican polling had shown a surge in Blankenship's support among likely primary voters.[96] Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom Blankenship harshly criticized in his campaign, reportedly urged Trump to express opposition to Blankenship.[97]

During the campaign Blankenship used the term Chinaman.[98][99][100]

After losing the Republican primary to state attorney general Patrick Morrisey, Blankenship reentered the race as the nominee of the Constitution Party.[101][102]

Personal life

Blankenship has two children.[103] He was profiled in a 2005 West Virginia Public Broadcasting documentary, The Kingmaker.[104]

References

  • Leamer, Laurence, The Price of Justice: A True Story of Greed and Corruption, New York: Times Books, ISBN 9780805094718

Notes

  1. ^ "Blankenship to wage third-party bid after losing primary". POLITICO.
  2. ^ "Major U.S. Coal Producers". Energy Information Administration. September 18, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  3. ^ T Allen, "Investors Tout Their Role in Massey's Leadership Change Archived February 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine" (December 7, 2010) Riskmetrics
  4. ^ https://www.facebook.com/DonLBlankenship/posts/2133847020020233
  5. ^ Ken Ward (November 13, 2014). "Longtime Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship indicted". Charleston Gazette.
  6. ^ "Jurors Convict Don Blankenship On Conspiracy Charge - WCHS - ABC". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Ken Ward Jr. (May 12, 2016). "Massey CEO Blankenship now in California federal prison". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  8. ^ Massey ex-CEO's conviction upheld over fatal mine blast, Reuters, Jonathan Stempel, January 19, 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  9. ^ James Bruggers (May 10, 2017). "Former coal baron and Kentucky native Don Blankenship ready for prison release". Louisville Courier-Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  10. ^ http://www.donblankenship.com/view_post.php?id=86
  11. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyWHUdk2x_M
  12. ^ "Newsmeat ▷ Don Blankenship's Federal Campaign Contribution Report". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on October 20, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Pathé, Simone (May 8, 2018). "Patrick Morrisey Wins West Virginia GOP Senate Primary". Roll Call.
  14. ^ http://www.donblankenship.com/view_post.php?id=80
  15. ^ https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/05/21/politics/west-virginia-don-blankenship-third-party-senate-run/index.html
  16. ^ thehill.com May 21, 2018: Blankenship third-party bid worries Senate GOP
  17. ^ Michael Shnayerson (January 8, 2008). Coal River. Macmillan. pp. 152–. ISBN 978-0-374-12514-1. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  18. ^ Deborah Solomon (February 13, 2006). "A Coal CEO's Unusual Pastime: Firing Up West Virginia Politics". The Wall Street Journal, page A1. Retrieved May 21, 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "Blankenship to speak at energy symposium". The Herald Dispatch. October 23, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  20. ^ Leamer 2013, p. 51.
  21. ^ a b "Marshall graduate pledges $300,000 for Medical School scholarships". Marshall.edu. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  22. ^ a b "The Williamson Daily News - Massey CEO to speak at Tug Valley Chamber banquet". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "American Accounting Association — News Archive". Aaahq.org. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  24. ^ a b Stocks (December 9, 2016). "Stocks - Bloomberg". Investing.businessweek.com. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  25. ^ Schelzig, Erik (November 26, 2005). "Virginia News | WVEC.com | News for Hampton Roads, Virginia". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on November 10, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ a b Don L. Blankenship. "Don Blankenship: Executive Profile & Biography". Business Week. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  27. ^ "Fluor Corporation - Investor Relations - Corporate News Release". Investor.fluor.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ Parker, Mario (December 3, 2010). "Massey's Blankenship to Retire Dec. 30, Be Replaced by President Phillips". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  29. ^ "Donald L. Blankenship Elected to Flour Board of Directors". Flour. September 9, 1996.
  30. ^ "U.S. Chamber of Commerce - Board of Directors: U.S. Chamber of Commerce". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on January 12, 2003. Retrieved June 23, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ "Corporate Governance || Massey Energy". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved April 6, 2010.[dead link]
  32. ^ "Churchgoers Honor 29 Dead Miners _ and Profession — ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  33. ^ "Massey's Blankenship Fought Regulators, Town, Maid as Coal CEO". Business Week. April 10, 2010. Archived from the original on April 13, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ Steve James (April 13, 2010). "Massey faces shareholder anger over mine disaster". Reuters. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  35. ^ "Coal Boss Don Blankenship Has Full Support of Massey Energy Board - ABC News". Abcnews.go.com. April 22, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  36. ^ "Obama eulogizes 29 W.Va. miners - 'Don't let this happen again'". Content.usatoday.com. April 25, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  37. ^ John Raby (March 29, 2012). "Ex-mine leader pleads guilty in deadly US blast | R&D Mag". Rdmag.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ "Coal Baron Don Blankenship Implicated In The Death Of 29 Miners". The Contributor. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  39. ^ Raby, John (May 11, 2017). "Coal exec convicted in miner deaths is released from prison, immediately lashes out on Twitter". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  40. ^ Jenkins, Jeff (July 13, 2017). "Blankenship: Senate run "a possibility"". MetroNews. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  41. ^ Kercheval, Hoppy (September 8, 2017). "My end of the week notes". MetroNews. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  42. ^ Dickerson, Chris (May 26, 2017). "Blankenship's legal team files appeal petition with U.S. Supreme Court". West Virginia Record. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  43. ^ Asbury, Kyla (August 18, 2017). "Sister of Upper Big Branch miner featured in television ad". West Virginia Record. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  44. ^ "Don Blankenship Resurfaces, Forms Ky. Coal Company". Wsaz.com. December 8, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  45. ^ Berkes, Howard. "Massey CEO's Pay Soared As Mine Concerns Grew". NPR. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  46. ^ [1][dead link]
  47. ^ Fisk, Margaret Cronin; Sullivan, Brian K.; Freifeld, Karen (April 15, 2010). "Massey Energy: The Accountant of Coal". BusinessWeek. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  48. ^ Goodell, Jeff (November 11, 2010). Don Blankenship: The Dark Lord of Coal Country. Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 10, 2010
  49. ^ "Don L. Blankenship Addresses the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Caperton v. A.T. Massey..." Reuters. June 10, 2009. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  50. ^ a b "Mining case shows sooty side of big-money judicial elections". USA TODAY. March 2, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  51. ^ Tomasky, Michael, "Night Comes to the Appalachians" New York Review of Books, Volume 55, Number 14; September 25, 2008.
  52. ^ Shnayerson, Michael (2008), Coal River, New York, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
  53. ^ Nyden, Paul (January 7, 2005, Charleston Gazette), "Coal, Doctor's Groups Donated to Anti-McGraw Effort."
  54. ^ O'Brien, John (West Virginia Record January 24, 2008) "Caperton was Anti-Benjamin from the Start."
  55. ^ Laurence Leamer (March 18, 2013). Nonfiction Book Review: The Price of Justice: A True Story of Two Lawyers' Epic Battle Against Corruption and Greed in Coal Country. ISBN 978-0-8050-9471-8. Retrieved December 30, 2016. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  56. ^ Galuszka, Peter A. (September 18, 2012). Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets Behind Big Coal. ISBN 978-1-250-00021-7. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1= and |2= (help)
  57. ^ Liptak, Adam (January 15, 2008). "Motion Ties W. Virginia Justice to Coal Executive". The New York Times.
  58. ^ "Coal Boss: If You Take Photos, 'You're Liable to Get Shot'". ABC News. April 3, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  59. ^ Urbina, Ian (May 15, 2008). "West Virginia's Top Judge Loses His Re-election Bid". The New York Times.
  60. ^ Liptak, Adam (February 15, 2009). "Case May Alter Judge Elections Across Country". The New York Times.
  61. ^ Samuels, Brett. "Blankenship releases ad calling McConnell 'cocaine Mitch'". The Hill. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  62. ^ Isenstadt, Alex (May 3, 2018). "Blankenship goes after McConnell's 'China family' in new ad". POLITICO. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  63. ^ "Don Blankenship, West Virginia Candidate, Lives Near Las Vegas and Mulled Chinese Citizenship". The New York Times. April 25, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  64. ^ Prokop, Andrew (May 7, 2018). "Cocaine Mitch: Don Blankenship's factually dubious attack on McConnell, explained". Vox.
  65. ^ Rizzo, Salvador (May 4, 2018). "Analysis | The kooky tale of 'Cocaine Mitch'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  66. ^ "Thanks for playing, @DonBlankenship. #WVSen". Twitter. May 9, 2018.
  67. ^ Chait, Jonathan (May 8, 2018). "McConnell Won't Say if Blankenship Is Racist Until He Knows Election Result". NYMag. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  68. ^ "Asked @DonBlankenship about his new ad being racist. Here's what he told me... #WVSEN". Twitter. May 4, 2018.
  69. ^ Mathis-Lilley, Ben (May 4, 2018). "Ex-Con West Virginia Senate Candidate Uses the Word "Negro" While Defending TV Ad About "China People"". Slate.
  70. ^ Segal, David (June 20, 2015). "The People v. the Coal Baron". Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  71. ^ "The Big Lies Of Big Coal: Don Blankenship Speaks". YouTube. December 10, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  72. ^ Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco (2012). Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. p. 168. Nation Books. ISBN 1568586434
  73. ^ Lindsey Bever (May 17, 2017). "Don Blankenship asked Trump to oppose legislation for harsher punishment for coal mine supervisors". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  74. ^ Adam K. Raymond (November 29, 2017). "Fresh Out of Prison, Reviled Coal Baron Don Blankenship Is Running for the U.S. Senate". New York Magazine. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  75. ^ Associated Press (October 14, 2017). "Court filing sheds more light on Blankenship campaigns". Herald Dispatch. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
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  79. ^ "Seeing Red On Cap And Trade". Forbes.com. September 28, 2009. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
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  82. ^ Jessica Farish (January 25, 2018). "Former Massey CEO puts UBB blame on MSHA; outlines positions at campaign town hall". The Register-Herald. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
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  88. ^ Zoya Teirstein (January 26, 2018). "The 'Ship Has Sailed". Grist. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
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  102. ^ Mufson, Steven. "Spurned by Trump and GOP, coal baron Don Blankenship seeks a second chance in West Virginia". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
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  104. ^ "The Kingmaker". West Virginia Public Broadcasting – via YouTube.
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