PRESS RELEASE FROM THE

SECRETARY OF STATES OFFICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
PHONE:

January 19, 2017

Mike Queen
Deputy Chief of Staff
Communications Director
304-558-6000
Secretary of State Warner Responds to Media Reports

CORRECTION: This press release is being sent to replace the press release sent at 3:48 p.m.
today. The information below will help better explain Secretary Warners response and I ask that
you disregard the prior correspondence. I apologize for the confusion on my part that this
omission may have created. - Mike Queen
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Secretary Warners vision for the office will fundamentally transform
and improve its operation for citizens, voters and businesses in West Virginia. Among the
initiatives underway are:
o Modernize recordkeeping with a paperless system to improve efficiency and reduce costs;
o Update equipment, facilitate user-interface, and improve cyber security to provide an
improved user experience.
o Vastly improve outreach to county officials and business owners, providing training and
support as needed by way of field representatives.
o Clear voter rolls of deceased and duplicate voters to reduce fraud and irregularities.
o Provide timely resolution of complaints which languished under the prior administration.
Unfortunately, in our four days in office, this new administration has instead been harangued by
inaccurate claims of wrongful termination by a trial lawyer, and sabotaged by intentional acts by
prior officials of this office. While taxpayers deserve a peaceful transition of power once
elections are over, the prior Secretary of States administration has done anything but yield a
smooth transition.
Here are the facts:

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o With respect to personnel matters, we vigorously deny the allegations that employees not
retained were illegally or improperly fired. Unlike the former officeholder, we will not
discuss specifics as these issues remain, at their core, personnel matters potentially
subject to privacy concerns and, as threatened repeatedly in the press, potential litigation.
Yet, we eagerly await the opportunity to introduce to the people of West Virginia our
office staff, including the majority of the staff who were retained, as the public will see a
very experienced, diverse, energetic and talented Secretary of States staff already
performing assigned duties. Our office is completely open, and we invite the public to
visit as the opportunity presents itself for a social call.
The reference to sabotage above includes the following intentional acts:
o We are deeply disturbed by former Secretary of State Tennant allowing taxpayer office
space for a private sector trial lawyer to set up shop and solicit business from employees
inside the State Capitol.
o This trial lawyer and his wife both provided maximum donations to Secretary Tennants
campaign. And, in an apparent attempt to elevate his profile to receive an appointment as
a Kanawha County Commissioner, the attorney went on statewide media outlets to
discuss his spurious, slanderous and malicious claims.
o Despite a signed acknowledgement by the outgoing Deputy Secretary of State that any
and all records would be retained, the former Secretary of State executive level
management disposed of emails, phone records, faxes and profiles.
o Just hours before the former administration ended, staff members threw away bins of
envelopes, stationery and other office supplies. The potential fraud, waste and abuse
could have been in the order of magnitude of thousands of dollars, not to mention the
hindrance to the on-going function of this office. Thanks to the vigilant work of current
staff, most of these items were retrieved and reconfigured to continue our mission to
serve the people of West Virginia.
o Secretary Tennant ordered the online business portal be taken offline in the final minutes
of her regime an act intended to disrupt the incoming administration and thwart online registrations of new businesses and updating of current businesses. To override this
order, and to provide continuity to office functions, Mac Warner was sworn in at 12:01
a.m. on January 16, 2017. In this way, he had official authority to restore service to the
feature within minutes of Tennants shutdown. In anticipation of this potential obstacle to
a seamless transition by the prior administration, over 1,200 businesses formed and/or
filed necessary reports on Inauguration Day alone, businesses that would have otherwise
had to wait.
Secretary Warner was elected to represent the Office of the Secretary of State of West
Virginia honorably and professionally and that is what he will to do each and every day. The
activity described above demonstrates a politically-driven agenda by the former administration
that is now taking up valuable time and resources from the new team tasked with moving this
State forward. It is time for the former administration to respect the will of the people of West
Virginia expressed clearly through the election process, and let the new administration do the
work and the will of the people. We do not intend to continue entertaining this media-driven
gamesmanship and look forward to its end.

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