New Ad Hits Ken Cuccinelli on CONSOL Energy Scandal

I have been maintaining for some time that Ken Cuccinelli's "Giftgate" scandal involving money and gifts received from Jonnie R. Williams, Sr./Star Scientific pales in comparison to the Consol Energy scandal in which Cuccinelli received $140,000 in exchange for improper assistance to private energy company litigants battling against Virginia property owners.  Now, a new ad that I mentioned previously is about to hit the airwaves and hopefully educate voters on this scandal.  According to Mike Casey of NextGen Climate Action Committee Virginia the ad will run in the Richmond, Roanoke, and Norfolk markets for the next 10 days starting tomorrow morning.  Casey also noted that the "CONSOL scandal is far, far worse - it's a lot more money, it's a gross violation of public trust, and it involves an active state investigation into his office's conduct."  In fact, Casey added, "it appears that the only reason why [Cuccinelli himself] is not being investigated is because of the loophole in Virginia's Inspector General law."  Here are more details on Casey's remarks via Blue Virginia:

[A]s Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli wasn't just enriching himself with luxury gifts and meals from Jonnie Williams, while pleading poverty...when he was faced with calls to return that money on a $194,000-per-year salary, he was taking enormous amounts of campaign cash from an out-of-state fossil fuel company while his office helped it rip off the people that elected him...Campaign shake-ups, 30-minute Hail Mary commercials, and a YouTube apology video is not going to address the very ugly timing of contributions and favors in the CONSOL scandal...

Ken Cuccinelli must release all of his office's email contacts with CONSOL, he needs to return this dirty money, and he needs to stop ducking questions...He has run from the media, he has run from watchdog groups, and he has run from citizens - it is ridiculous...Ken Cuccinelli's corruption is making us look like some sort of banana republic...This commercial is not going to be the last [Cuccinelli] will hear [on this issue]...

He's in deep trouble in Southwest Virginia and he should be, because that's where most of the people who were hurt by his actions live, and this commercial is designed to ensure that the rest of the state zeroes in on these questions and presses him for answers. We have every confidence that this is becoming not just a Southwest Virginia issue but a statewide issue...

...Being a climate denier and appearing to rent out the top law enforcement office [in Virginia] to an out-of-state fossil fuel company go hand and hand.

Cuccinelli can dissemble all he wants, but the reality is that something stinks to high Heaven and I find it impossible to believe that Cuccinelli's office took it upon itself to improperly aid energy companies without Cuccinelli's knowledge and direction.  If he claims otherwise, there is one word that describes him: LIAR.
 

Consol Energy - Ken Cuccinelli's Most Serious Conflict of Interest/Ethics Problem

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Even though he has donated $18,000 to a charity - a charity run by some of his large donors - in an effort to deflect the ongoing "Gift Gate" scandal arising from gifts he received from Jonnie R. Williams, Sr./Star Scientific, Ken Cuccinelli continues to take a beating and is accused of doing too little too late.  But by far the largest ethical/conflict of interest problem for Kookinelli is that relating to Consol Energy and the improper assistance Cuccinelli's office gave to private litigants in a civil lawsuit against Virginia landowners.   The Virginia news media should be jumping on this issue non-stop.  Given the timing of the AG's office's improper assistance and the subsequent large contributions made to Cuccinelli's campaign by the beneficiaries of such improper assistance, it is difficult to see the contributions as anything other than payments made in exchange for favorable treatment.  Another word for such payments might be bribes.   

As noted before in prior posts, I find it inconceivable that a senior Assistant Attorney General would have provided assistance to the energy company litigants without directives from above.  From my many dealings with the AG's office, such things simply do not happen and Cuccinelli's claims that he knew nothing about it just do not ring true.   From my experience in the oil and gas industry (both with a law firm representing energy companies and as in-house counsel for the oil and gas subsidiary of a Fortune 50 company), this type of assistance is NOT normal and simply does not happen under normal circumstances.  In short, it is difficult to explain why the improper assistance occurred except Cuccinelli's use of his office to benefit contributors in exchange for money.  In my view, the FBI needs to be investigating Cuccinelli for this behavior which would seem to be directly tied to very large campaign contributions.  A piece in The Checks and Balances Project lays out a timeline that shows that Cuccinelli's lies explanations to date do not add up.  Here are highlights:

The unfolding controversy around Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s involvement with CONSOL Energy Inc., a Pittsburgh-based fossil fuel (oil, gas and coal) company, has focused on the widely criticized assistance his office provided the company. It also has focused on the total amount of money Cuccinelli has received from CONSOL.

When forced to respond to C&BP recently, Cuccinelli has asserted the company “gave me $100,000 after I opposed them.” A comparison of the timing of contributions and actions that favored CONSOL paint a very different picture.

In the first eight years of Mr. Cuccinelli’s political career (state senate), his campaigns received a total of $3,500 from CONSOL. However, once elected to Attorney General, his office began taking actions that favored CONSOL and disadvantaged southwestern Virginia landowners who hadn’t been paid by CONSOL. A comparison of the timelines of actions and money show a pattern of accelerating support as favorable actions increased, bringing a total of $140,000 to Cuccinelli after the actions favorable to CONSOL began.

In June 2010, Mr. Cuccinelli issued an advisory opinion that limited the jurisdiction of the Virginia Gas and Oil Board that forced Virginia landowners to go to court over royalty payments, a move clearly in CONSOL Energy’s favor.

Two months later, in August 2010, his office sided with CONSOL and against Virginians in a lawsuit to recover improperly withheld royalties, helping the out-of-state oil company defend against a claim by Virginia landowners.

From August 2010 through April 2012, Cuccinelli’s office (through a Senior Assistant Attorney General Sharon Pigeon) began secretly providing legal research and advice to CONSOL’s attorneys regarding the lawsuit, outside of the scope of the AG office’s official capacity. The Virginia Inspector General is now investigating to determine whether the AG’s office misused taxpayer funds.

Finally, Mr. Cuccinelli, helped CONSOL again earlier this year when he issued another advisory opinion that barred local jurisdictions from using zoning laws to establish fracking moratoriums.

This situation stinks to high heaven and Virginia voters and taxpayers deserve answers as to why Cuccinelli was improperly assisting out of state energy companies against Virginia landowners and taxpayers.  To date, Cuccinelli runs from reporters when asked about this very dirty business. 

 

New Ad Underscores Ken Cuccinelli's Efforts to Help Energy Companies Screw Virginians

A new ad by NextGen Climate Action Virginia will underscore a sore subject with many Virginians from Southwest Virginia in particular.  The ad?  A piece that looks at Cuccinelli's office assisting Consol Energy screw over Virginia landowners and short change them on gas royalty payments.  Here are details via Blue Virginia:

NextGen Climate Action's Virginia campaign will begin tomorrow to air a roughly half-million dollar advertising buy with this ad.  Over a roughly 10-day period, it will run in the Richmond, Norfolk and Roanoke markets.

This is the first in a series of ads we plan to do highlighting important, basic questions Ken Cuccinelli clearly doesn't want to answer about the scandals surrounding his conduct in office - and what it says about him.

We now have a pattern of Cuccinelli dismissing, spinning or turning away from questions - whether they are from reporters, a 74 year-old landowner, or young Virginia voters. You can see the pattern here.

The problem for Ken Cuccinelli is that in Virginia, you have to actually talk to reporters and voters if you want to be Governor. You don't get to duck the big questions for eight weeks. Then again, it's pretty clear why he won't answer the questions: It looks bad. He's our top law enforcement official, he took $100,000 from an out-of-state fossil fuel company while his office helped that company rip off Virginians -- and then played disclosure games to avoid getting caught.

This is unacceptable. People like me move to, stay and do business in Virginia because it's been a well-run state. But the McDonnell and Cuccinelli scandals are threatening to turn us into a national joke.

Not to sound like a broken record, but during all my years in the oil and gas industry, NEVER, EVER did I see a state attorney general's office assisting energy companies in civil litigation against landowners entitled to royalty payments.  I think we all know that there were over 100,000 reasons why Cuccinelli's staff acted improperly and against Virginia citizens and landowners. 

 

Ken Cuccinelli's Explanation of Aid to Gas Companies Begins to Unravel

Not to beat a dead horse, but as previously noted, NEVER, EVER in my experience as an attorney working in the oil and gas industry did I see a state attorney general's office aiding oil and gas companies in civil litigation matters against landowners over royalty payments.  So-called "force pooling" statutes and regulations - which assembly a group of leases to provide a viable exploration sites for wells - have been around for many decades.  Cuccinelli's office had no legitimate reason to be advising gas companies on litigation strategy, etc.  Absolutely none.  Now, as the Virginian Pilot states in a main page editorial, Cuccinelli's bogus explanation is unraveling big time.  One can only hope that Terry McAuliffe hammers this message home to residents of Southwest Virginia.  Here are editorial highlights:

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's credibility suffered another blow recently, after a southwestern Virginia newspaper unearthed records showing a senior assistant in his office communicated through email dozens of times with attorneys representing energy companies in a lawsuit filed by property owners.

Sharon Pigeon, a senior assistant attorney general, "sent at least 52 emails to lawyers of defendants EQT Production and CNX Gas since lawsuits were filed three years ago," the Bristol Herald Courier reported. Consol Energy, the parent of CNX, has contributed more than $100,000 to Cuccinelli's gubernatorial campaign since last year.

And the details simply magnify the concerns expressed by a federal judge three months ago, when she described the attorney's correspondence with the energy companies' legal counsel as "shocking."

The attorney general previously claimed Pigeon's role was limited to defending the constitutionality of the Virginia Gas and Oil Act. But the latest reporting shows there were few, if any, limits to Pigeon's advice, and a federal judge said she found no indication of advice pertaining to constitutional issues, the Bristol paper reported.

"Instead, Pigeon's emails appear to have focused on such topics as the effect of a jury pool, judicial orders and other case issues, suggest references in court documents. She sent many of those emails months after a senior judge ruled on the constitutional challenges and after the attorney general's office dropped out of the case."

The state inspector general is investigating whether Pigeon inappropriately used state resources, but he cannot investigate whether the attorney general had any direct involvement, or direct knowledge, of her actions unless the governor, or the attorney general himself, or a grand jury, requests he do so.

Cuccinelli's initial bid to explain Pigeon's conduct has boomeranged. His only recourse for trying to salvage credibility on the subject now appears to be to draw the same kind of independent scrutiny that he brought on himself this spring, after revising his incomplete financial disclosure forms.

After 36 years in the legal profession, I find it inconceivable that a senior assistant attorney general would have acted as Ms. Pigeon did without directives from above.  There seemingly is no other explanation.  Well, there is one: the over $100,000 Cuccinelli received from the parent company of one of the gas company litigants.    The man is dirty and a liar, in my view.  

 

Cuccinelli Refuses to Answer Voters on His Aid To Gas Companies Against Taxpayers

In addition to his own Jonnie R. Williams, Sr./Star Scientific bribes gifts scandal, Ken Cuccinelli has another problem which seemingly will not go away: his office's improper assistance to gas companies in a civil lawsuit where Virginia landowners are seeking to recover millions in gas royalties they have been shortchanged on.  While Kookinelli denies any connection, the parent company of one of the gas company litigants just happened to give Kookinelli over $100,000.00.  Was it a pay back?  Was it a bribe?  Kookinelli will not say and stormed out of a forum when reports continued to ask about the linkage between the money and his office's improper conduct in a civil litigation matter.  Worse yet, Kookinelli had State Troopers stop reporters from approaching him.   

As noted in prior posts, I once was in a law firm that represented a who's who of oil companies in Alabama.  Later, I was in-house counsel for an oil and gas company.  Never, ever in any of the litigation that I experienced did we receive assistance from the office of a state attorney general in civil lawsuits over royalties. NEVER, EVER.  In my view, this is a huge story and Kookinelli needs to be forced to answer reporters' questions.  If not, a formal investigation needs to be launched.

Huffington Post has details and a video clip of Kookinelli refusing to give Virginians an answer about the seeming linkage between his office's conduct and large money donations.  Here are highlights:

• After siding with Consol Energy in a dispute regarding gas royalties for Virginia landowners, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli received over $100,000 [1] from Consol Energy and its subsidiaries. Our question for Mr. Cuccinelli is simple - given the conflicts of interest in taking money from a company involved in a lawsuit with landowners, will he give the money back?
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• The Checks and Balances Project (C&BP) attended a forum yesterday with Mr. Cuccinelli at George Mason University's Koch-funded Mercatus Center and which was organized by fossil fuel front group, Consumer Energy Alliance.
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• After the forum, Mr. Cuccinelli took a few questions from reporters before abruptly walking off after C&BP asked about the more than $100,000 he has received from Consol.  Here's what happened:
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• C&BP: "You've received over $100,000 from Consol Energy since you sided with them? Will you give that money back?
  
  Mr. Cuccinelli: "I did not receive $100,000 since I sided with them. I received $100,000 in contributions since I opposed them.
  
  Mike Stark (from FossilAgenda.com): Then why did they give you $100,000?
  
  Cuccinelli: I'm the only candidate who's proposed a solution to the gas. [inaudible]
  C&BP: I've heard you say that before... but do you...
  
  Cuccinelli: If you don't have an actual question, thank you very much. [Ends press conference after only five reporters out of approximately 30 had asked questions.]
  
  C&BP attempted to get an answer after the press conference before one of the two state troopers escorting Mr. Cuccinelli stopped C&BP from walking towards the Attorney General to ask the question.

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• The Virginia landowners who Mr. Cuccinelli has sided against have already asked him to give the money back and C&BP asked him again yesterday. He reacted by walking away from a press conference. Mr. Cuccinelli should answer the question - and clean up any potential conflicts of interest by returning campaign payments from Consol Energy and its subsidiaries, which are currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Virginia landowners.
  

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• [1] Mr. Cuccinelli accepted more than $140,000 in Consol contributions after issuing an advisory opinion as Attorney General that limited the jurisdiction of Virginia Gas and Oil Board in June 2010.  That opinion marked the first of several Consol-friendly actions Mr. Cuccinelli has taken as Virginia's Attorney General. Two months later, in August 2010, Mr. Cuccinelli sided with Consol and against Virginians in a lawsuit to recover improperly withheld royalties. Finally, Mr. Cuccinelli, went to bat for Consol again earlier this year when he issued another advisory opinion that local jurisdictions in Virginia may not use zoning laws to establish a moratorium on fracking until they can be sure their water tables will not be polluted.