Massey CEO Threatens ABC Reporter

"'If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot,' the chairman of one of the country's biggest coal mining companies, Don Blankenship of Massey Energy, told an ABC News reporter before grabbing the reporter's camera," ABC News film reveals.

Photos of Blankenship with West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Spike Maynard vacationing in the French Riviera were an embarrassment to Massey earlier this year. Photos showing the two together while vacationing on the French Riviera prompted calls for Maynard to recuse himself from a case in which Massey had tens of millions of dollars at stake.

• "Coal Boss: If You Take Photos, 'You're Liable To Get Shot," ABC News, April 3, 2008, by Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer.
• "Another Legal Victory for Tough Coal Boss," ABC News, April 7, 2008, by Brian Ross and Maddy Sauer.
• "Motion Ties W. Virginia Justice to Coal Executive," New York Times, Jan. 15, 2008, by Adam Liptak.