CHARLESTON — West Virginia governor convened hearings on attempted cancellation of presidential election “political theater” In Monday.
The hearings are led by political forces, including Democratic leaders, Governor Jim Justice answered a question asking if he had seen the first meeting of the House of Representatives Jan. 6 committee last week.
The committee outlined the role of ex-President Donald Trump on January 6, 2020 during Thursday’s hearing and included revelations lawmakers have asked the president to pardon following the insurgency that didn’t failed to prevent certification of Electoral College votes. No evidence of widespread voter fraud that could affect election results was found.
The second hearing took place on Monday during the judge’s briefing.
The media and Democratic leaders are misrepresenting what Trump has done, said Justice, a Republican. Many things Trump has done “were on point”, said the governor.
“It’s all the same old stuff that got this country into a mess,” Justice said. “And that’s all there is to it.
“Look at what we are doing today in this country. And who in their right mind, who in their right mind, could absolutely condone or think that what we are doing is the right thing,” he said. “To me, political theater is a waste of time, throwing rocks at a president who did a hell of a job in my book.”
Monday’s briefing included updates on the pandemic.
Dr. Clay Marsh, state coronavirus adviser, again warned that the new variants of the omicron strain are the most infectious encountered to date.
Additional vaccination schedules are planned, he said.
“We anticipate that there will be a regular schedule that will be released over time that will help appropriately vaccinate people in the highest risk categories in the United States that we have identified over the age of 50,” Marsh said.
Moderna has developed a more micron-selective vaccine, which sounds like a good idea, Marsh said.
“The problem is that the vaccine was originally designed against the BA-1 variant, the variant that caused all the problems during the winter,” Marsh said. “People who have recovered from the BA-1 variant don’t have much residual immunity to these more common variants.”
A nasal vaccine is also in development, he said. The virus enters through the nose and mucous membrane, Marsh said. A nasal vaccine may have a greater impact on the infectivity of variants, Marsh said.
“The type of immunity through the mucous membrane is a different type of immunity than when we get an injection,” he said.
In a non-COVID announcement, Justice announced that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Brownfield Revolving Fund has provided the first low-interest loan to the City of Wheeling to remediate and redevelop the old Penn-Wheeling site. The fund was created in 2020 to help the government, non-profit organizations and the private sector clean up properties contaminated with oil or hazardous substances.
“It’s a good thing. It makes our communities better in every way,” said the court.
