WVGOP, Conrad Lucas Accuse Gov. Tomblin of Routergate Flip Flop

Today Governor Tomblin said he would appoint a "broadband task force" to answer this $24 million crisis.........by next year. That's not acceptable.

"It's clear that the Governor just isn't taking RouterGate seriously," said West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Conrad Lucas. "These are tens of million of dollars of taxpayer money spent to put broadband equipment where it isn't needed or can't even be used. This is scandalous.

No one in the Tomblin or Manchin Administrations will take responsibility.

Even after Tomblin knew that project had gone wrong last year.....he still stood by every unused $22,000 router.

He was caught on tape promoting this boondoggle.

"It has not been wasted. The Broadband is being installed every single day," said Tomblin last October at the sole gubernatorial debate. "No, it's not a waste," Tomblin replied, to a Bill Maloney question about how many of the Cisco 3945 routers remain in storage.

Tomblin's words come from the C-SPAN recording of last October's debate in Charleston.

It's clear the taxpayers and our citizens have been cheated. Federal investigators and the United States Congress now are seeking justice for taxpayers.

"All our so-called leaders seem to do is make excuses and invent task forces to try to distract us from the facts," said Lucas. "While Governors Tomblin and Manchin had the reins to the state, millions of dollars were spent by unqualified cronies of the career politicians. Now we have $22,000 routers being used to get internet to schools and libraries where a $50 router from WalMart would have done the job. That's wrong."

The State Audit that documented this alleged misbehavior noted that just the money wasted within the $24 million spent on routers could have provided dollars for at least 104 more miles of fiber optic line to be laid to even more rural and under-served counties.

The  discussion by Tomblin & Maloney of RouterGate begins at the 35:30 mark of the debate recording, hosted at C-SPAN

Editor's Note: Conrad Lucas is President of the WV GOP. Gov. Tomblin is a Democrat.