West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey slammed Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-WV) in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News, arguing that “it’s clear Evan Jenkins has not abandoned his Democratic past.”
Breitbart News revealed in an exclusive report last Wednesday that Congressman Jenkins originally denied and then admitted to sending a letter urging lawmakers to support protection of an Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) trucking regulation.
Morrisey argued in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News:
After 20 years as a liberal Democrat, it’s clear Evan Jenkins has not abandoned his Democratic past. Jenkins was now caught lying about his support for a regulation issued by President Obama’s EPA at the urging of a lobbyist of a foreign company. How can West Virginians trust Evan Jenkins to stand up for their conservative values when he’s fighting the Trump administration and fighting to keep Obama’s EPA regulations? West Virginia deserves better than a fake-Republican.
Steve Milloy, a Trump EPA transition team member, contended that the Obama-era trucking regulation “would have essentially shuttered the glider industry.”
A separate report suggests that a Volvo lobbyist allegedly wrote the letter, but Jenkins claims that the lobbyist-drafted letter is different than the one he admits to circulating.
Nachama Soloveichik, a member of the Patrick Morrisey team, chided Rep. Jenkins in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News, saying:
Evan Jenkins was caught red-handed in another lie shilling for a foreign company at the behest of a donor who maxed out to his campaign in support of an Obama EPA rule that would kill jobs.
It seems Jenkins lies about everything to further his political career – Planned Parenthood, rallying for Hillary, cap-and-trade, and now supporting a liberal EPA rule against the Trump administration.
Jenkins faces an uphill battle against West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in the Republican primary for the West Virginia U.S. Senate race in 2018. While Jenkins has previously served as a Democrat and even supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2008, Morrisey served as one of the lead plaintiffs against the Obama-era EPA’s Clean Power Plan.
Jenkins previously served the state of West Virginia as a Democrat for nearly twenty years; the West Virginia lawmaker switched parties to become a Republican in 2013. Jenkins supported 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
As a state representative in 2009, Jenkins even voted for a cap-and-trade trade bill. In 1997, Jenkins sponsored HB 2476, a bill that would create a cap-and-trade program for West Virginia.
In March 2016, Jenkins remained wary of endorsing then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for the presidential election. The former Democrat also refused to rule out the possibility that he could support a third-party candidate.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker also endorsed Morrisey for the U.S. Senate race in February. In contrast, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) backed Jenkins for the U.S. Senate race.
Soloveichik added in her statement to Breitbart News, “It’s time for Evan Jenkins to come clean and return the $5,400 he received from the company that asked him to circulate the letter. What other liberal policies will Evan Jenkins support to further his political ambition?”