Supreme Court justice: I shouldn’t be impeached

The first of four West Virginia Supreme Court justices to be tried on impeachment charges testified Monday that she shouldn’t be standing trial.

“When I think impeachment, I think about things like crime, stealing, lying and corruption,” Beth Walker said Monday as her trial started before the state Senate. “I don’t think I’ve done any of those things.”

Walker is among four justices impeached by the House of Delegates in August. The cases targeted spending, including renovations to the justices’ offices, and also raised questions about corruption, incompetence and neglect of duty earlier this decade.

Some Democrats have criticized the impeachment moves as a power grab by majority Republican lawmakers, strategically timed to allow GOP Gov. Jim Justice to name their temporary replacements.

The House impeached Walker and justices Robin Davis, Margaret Workman and Allen Loughry on a charge of abusing their authority. It said they failed to control office expenses, including more than $1 million in renovations to their individual offices, and not maintaining policies over matters such as working lunches and the use of state vehicles and office computers at home.

It’s the only impeachment count Walker faces. The House chose not to impeach her for spending $131,000 on office renovations, far less than what some other justices spent.

Supreme Court finance director Sue Racer-Troy testified Walker’s office lacked furniture upon joining the court in 2017 because her predecessor had purchased many of those items. Walker also had complained about the lack of lighting in the office.