Manchin's luxury yacht may be investigated

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin for failing to disclose his ownership of a limited liability company that holds a $700,000 yacht he lives on while he is in Washington.

If the committee takes up the complaint, Manchin will be the first West Virginian in Congress to be investigated for ethics violations in eight years.

In 2010, the FBI investigated Democratic Representative Alan Mollohan's beach house in North Carolina. It was one of many shady real estate deals by Mollohan over the years.

The FBI cleared him, but he subsequently was primaried after 28 years in Congress, a seat his equally ethics challenged father held.

Manchin is Mollohanish in his approach to public office, having secured a fake degree for his daughter from West Virginia University while governor.

Now the Washington Free Beacon has reported, "Manchin bought a 65-foot yacht, which he named 'Almost Heaven,' in October 2013 for $700,000. Manchin later transferred ownership of the yacht to Country Roads Marine LLC — a West Virginia-based LLC — that Manchin and his wife incorporated and are listed as members and officers, records show. Manchin docks the boat on the Potomac River in Southeast D.C. and resides in it while he is in the city.

"However, since 2013, Manchin has failed to report ownership of Country Roads Marine LLC, which FACT says is a 'serious violation of Senate Ethics Rules,' given they require senators to list 'outside compensation, holdings, transactions, liabilities, positions held and gifts received' on their financial disclosure reports."

I wonder why he would want to hide that.

Kendra Arnold, the executive director of FACT, said, "Senator Manchin has a history of being evasive when it comes to his financial dealings and interests, which only raises more serious and troubling questions about what he is hiding, and how much, from the government and more importantly, the citizens of West Virginia.

"The rules regarding financial disclosure are clear and straightforward and Senator Manchin’s continued attempts to thwart these requirements is not only reckless and irresponsible but sadly serves to erode the public’s trust in our elected officials and system of government."

Manchin is only one point ahead of Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in the latest poll.

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