Manchin’s wife violated an ethics “conflict of interest” policy, the emails said

Gayle Manchin, wife of Sen. Joe Manchin and federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), appears to have violated an ethics agreement by advising an organization affiliated with her husband’s campaign, despite vowing not to. from matters in which he had a “financial interest,” according to emails obtained by Fox News Digital.

According to the emails, Manchin quietly advised the nonprofit Coalfield Development in October 2021 on a $62.8 million U.S. bailout grant that eventually led to the organization being run by the campaign committee. her husband and the treasurer of the PAC leadership to receive millions of dollars from the grant.

In an ethics pledge Manchin signed in April 2021, he said he would recuse himself from those advisory boards “to avoid any real or perceived conflict of interest.”

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Coalfield Development’s ACT Now coalition was one of 21 recipients vying for a $100 million US bailout. The Charleston Area Alliance, chaired by Sen. Manchin’s treasurer Jack Rossi, and the Marshall University Coal Development Coalition jointly received $13 million of the $63 million.

According to an Oct. 19, 2021 email, Coalfield Development CEO Brandon Dennison sent Gail Manchin his Build Back Better grant application and said they talked over the phone about their efforts as “complementary and supportive of efforts initiated by ARC.”

Dennison also said that while the application process was “extremely competitive,” he “looks forward to continuing our collaboration” with ARC.

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, the ARC said it has “no financial interest in Federal Co-Chairman Manchin’s coal mine development or the ACT Now coalition.” ARC also stated that while Gail Manchin “encouraged Appalachian organizations to apply for the Build Back Better grant,” she had “no role in approving EDA Build Back Better applications.”

Gail Manchin, wife of Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, seen in 2011. (Michael Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Gail Manchin also served on the board of coalfield development partner Reconnecting McDowell before resigning after her position at ARC was confirmed. However, the Reconnecting McDowell website still lists Manchin as a partner as of April 13, 2023.

However, ARC told Fox News Digital that “Gayle Manchin never had any financial connection to McDowell’s reinstatement.”

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Although the Charleston Regional Alliance received millions from the grant, ARC said “Rossi is not a grantee; instead, grantees will gain an understanding of everyday Appalachia in the region’s coal-affected communities.”

Gail Manchin is paid more than $160,000 a year for his work at ARC, an economic development partnership between the federal government and 13 state governments. ARC has invested more than $4.5 billion in the Appalachian region.

Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, during a community listening session at Piketon High School in Piketon, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. (Helen Morse/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Gayle Manchin was appointed to the ARC by President Biden in April 2021, a month after Senator Manchin voted to bail out the US.

Manchin is considered the most senior voice in the Senate and is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The senator also chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.