Governor silent on calls by Democratic Party to drop from U.S. Senate race
By Steven Allen Adams, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As attorneys for West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s two adult children prepare to defend their motion in a local circuit court to keep the historic Greenbrier Resort from being auctioned off next week, a new bank is claiming the family defaulted on another loan.
And despite calls to drop out of the U.S. Senate race by the West Virginia Democratic Party over numerous news reports about the woes of his resort, Justice has remained silent.
Justice — the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., at the end of the year — has just over four months left in his second and final four-year term as governor of West Virginia. Justice faces former Democratic Wheeling mayor Glenn Elliott in November.
The Justice-owned Greenbrier Resort is facing numerous financial hardships due to defaults on loans, the non-payment of taxes and unpaid health care contributions for its employees. As a result, the historic resort is set to be auctioned off on Tuesday, with employees losing their health care coverage the same day. So far, representatives of Justice’s companies have refused to comment.
In the latest loan issue, Louisiana-based First Guaranty Bank filed suit against the Greenbrier Hotel Corp. on July 17 over a $35 million loan from 2020. The Greenbrier was delinquent as of Dec, 22, 2023, and now is in default.
The loan, made through the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, partnered for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations to provide loans with five-year maturity rates. The loans had no payments due for the first year, only required payments on interest in the second year, then 15% of the loan amount in years three and four. By year five, the entire amount of the loan plus interest was due.
