GOP senator hit with rare Senate ethics rebuke over a first in 47 years

The Senate Ethics Committee publicly rebuked Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), finding that the West Virginia Republican violated federal law and Senate rules by failing to file his annual financial disclosure on time.

Washington Sun politics reporter Reese Gorman called it a “rare” letter of admonition in a post on X.

“It is the first time since the passage of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 that the committee has found a senator in violation of federal law for failure to report their finances by the legal deadline,” the outlet reported, citing the committee.

“Your actions failed to uphold that standard, resulting in harm to the public trust and confidence in the United States Senate and a violation of federal law,” committee Chair James Lankford (R-OK) and Vice Chair Chris Coons (D-DE) wrote in the Nov. 10 letter.

Justice was granted two extensions, moving his May 15 deadline to Aug. 13. His filing assistant acknowledged six reminders from the committee and told the panel less than 30 minutes before the deadline that Justice did not intend to file, the letter said.

He submitted the report Sept. 8, after missing a second deadline the committee set for the overdue filing.

The senators acknowledged that Justice’s accountant and filing assistant had experienced “a significant family hardship,” but said that “does not abrogate your personal responsibility as a U.S. Senator to comply with governing federal law.”

The Sun described the letter as a “public scolding” but reported that it carries no formal punishment.

In a statement provided Friday to Raw Story by his office, Justice attributed the late filing to a legal dispute involving his family’s businesses and his accountant’s family situation, while acknowledging the report should have been filed on time.

“Over the summer, our family businesses were dealing with a highly complex legal dispute over the future of the Greenbrier. During this time, our great friend and longtime accountant was dealing with the terminal illness of his wife. Admittedly, we did not fully appreciate the significance of filing the financial disclosure late. Nevertheless, it should have been filed on time, period. It won’t happen again,” Justice said.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a statement from Sen. Justice.