Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) lobbied President Joe Biden’s administration to secure a multimillion-dollar grant on behalf of a coalition of groups that included an organization with ties to his campaign, according to Fox News.
Appalachian Climate Technology (ACT) Now is a coalition led by the Coalfield Development Corporation, which is composed of several West Virginia municipalities, schools, and organizations. One of those organizations is the Charleston Area Alliance, an economic development group led by Jack Rossi, Manchin’s campaign treasurer.
Coalfield Development’s ACT Now Coalition was one of several organizations competent for $100 million in federal funding from Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
Ultimately, the Department of Commerce awarded ACT Now $62.8 million. Of the nearly $63 million, $13 million went to the Learning, Innovation, Food & Technology (LIFT) Center in Charleston, West Virginia, which benefits Rossi’s Charleston Area Alliance.
Manchin personally contacted Department of Commerce assistant secretary for economic development Alejandra Castillo in support of the ACT Now’s Coalition but failed to disclose his connection to Rossi, according to a letter obtained by Fox News.
Manchin wrote in October 2021:
Please accept this letter as a record of my support for Coalfield Development Corporation, their respective coalition partners, and this application. I understand that, if approved, funding provided by this opportunity will be utilized to support the Appalachian Climate Technology Now Initiative.
The ACT Now Initiative will create an industrial cluster around a number of climate resilience technologies while focusing on the development of resilient infrastructure and site readiness, attracting, training and retaining a skilled workforce, fostering entrepreneurship and startups, and building community capacity.
In response to Fox News’s report, Coalfield Development CEO Brandon Dennison told the outlet they sought Manchin’s support “as did several other West Virginia based applications for the Build Back Better Regional Challenge.”
“We sought the Senator’s support as did several other West Virginia based applications for the Build Back Better Regional Challenge. I would imagine all of the finalists in this national competition did the same with their Congressional leaders,” Dennison said.
“Coalfield Development is not a political organization. ACT Now is not a political coalition,” he added. “As far as I know the chairs of any of the boards involved in ACT Now are unpaid volunteers. I do not follow politics closely enough to know who the treasurers of campaigns are.”
Reports about Manchin’s lobbying came days after reports that Manchin’s wife, Gayle, potentially violated a “conflicts of interest” ethics pledge by advising Coalfield Development on the American Rescue Plan grant.
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.