To celebrate the beginning of the next general election year, here’s the first installment of an occasional series about West Virginia governor Jim Justice’s Senate bid. You may remember Justice from this incident, pictured at the top of my post:

That’s pretty much who Justice is:  stupid, crass, and mean. His entire life has been a quest to enrich himself, and now that grift factory is starting to break down as his financial dealings come under even more scrutiny. So what’s this about a helicopter?

Back in 2009 Justice, working with 2 of the companies he owns, bought a helicopter and financed it through Citizens Assets Finance, Inc. Citizens Assets sued the Justice parties in 2017 after Justice defaulted on the agreement, and the parties came to a agreement on what was owed in 2018.

That helicopter is back in the news because Jim Justice and his flotilla of companies owe a lot of money to a lot of people, and the helicopter is an asset. Oh, and the federal government seized the helicopter in October 2023 to help satisfy other debts, leading to this spider’s web of claims:

Caroleng Investments Limited, parent company to the Russian mining company Mechel that bought and sold properties with Justice, is seeking the helicopter’s seizure over a debt now piling as high as $13 million.

Caroleng hasn’t been able to collect on its judgment through other means. Liquidating the helicopter, conceivably, could satisfy a portion of the debt.

U.S. marshals were directed to seize the helicopter, a reflection of executing judgments already rendered several years ago in the court system.

Bluestone Resources has objected to the helicopter seizure by a company “controlled by a Russian oligarch.” Bluestone’s lawyers say that if the helicopter is seized and liquidated then the money should instead go to different lenders higher up the food chain.

One of those lenders, 1st Source Bank of Indiana, jumped in to identify itself as a lender with a perfected, first-priority security interest on the helicopter.

Lawyers for 1st Source entered a filing last week to elaborate on that claim to the helicopter. The bank says it can show it’s still owed more than $5 million in principle and interest from the loan that included the helicopter. And 1st Source says the loan is secured by a personal guaranty of Gov. James C. Justice II.

Yes, you read that correctly—Justice is involved with a Russian mining company. I’ll have more about that at a future date.

The larger issue that that quote raises is that Jim Justice has no damn place anywhere in the Senate. He’s a crook through and through. The idea that the RNC is going to seriously prop up this avaricious chump is disheartening. But, since this is West Virginia, his GOP challenger is even worse, and a seditionist to boot.

Every way you look at this, you lose.