FINAL BRIEFING — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, speaking at his now-empty desk as he prepares to leave office, gave one final virtual briefing Friday. -- Contributed

CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice completed one of the final remaining relics of his COVID-19 pandemic response Friday by giving one final virtual briefing to the public and press before taking his U.S. Senate seat next week.

Justice held his virtual briefing Friday afternoon from his office in the west wing of the State Capitol Building, now devoid of photos and desktop items as he prepares to hand over the keys to the office to Patrick Morrisey, who will become the 37th governor of West Virginia on Monday.

“This is my last briefing,” Justice said. “We’ve changed a few things around because we’re getting ready to leave. It’s hard to believe to tell you the truth, but time has gone and gone very quickly.”

The virtual press briefings began at the end of March 2020 as COVID-19 began to sweep the state and nation. Reporters had to participate virtually, first through Amazon, then later by Zoom and Google. Justice and state officials held these briefings Monday through Friday during the first months of the outbreak to provide information, statistics, and answer questions.

“When COVID hit and everything, we decided we were going to have this briefing, and we did,” Justice said. “Then I said we were going to have another briefing in a couple of days … and I’ll never forget one of the reporters said ‘are you going to be there?’ And I said I’ll be there. Since that time, we have had hundreds of briefings, and I can very proudly tell you that for every single one of the briefings I’ve been there.”

As COVID continued, the briefings decreased to three times per week, then two times per week, with Justice driving in from his home in Lewisburg to participate. Once the threat of COVID became manageable, the briefings were rebranded as administration briefings. The briefing went to once per week, with Justice using the briefings to update the public on his official acts.

“It’s been a big honor to be able to sit and talk with the great people of West Virginia,” Justice said. “I always refer to the voters as Toby and Edith, and there was a time when Toby and Edith needed someone to come and talk to them, someone who was going to tell them the truth, someone who is doing this job for the right reason and only that reason.”

Prior to the COVID briefings, Justice would hold in-person press conferences, with reporters attending and being able to ask multiple questions and follow-up questions. But even after the COVID briefings became administration briefings, reporters remained barred from in-person attendance.

Questions from reporters on the briefings remained limited to one per reporter. One reporter, Brad McElhinny of WV MetroNews, was briefly banned after running afoul of the governor for asking questions about his business issues. Despite three reporters being on Justice’s final briefing Friday, no questions were taken.

Justice was elected to the U.S. Senate in November to succeed former U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, who retired at the end of 2024. Justice could have resigned as early as Jan. 3 to take his seat, but decided to remain in office until Morrisey is officially sworn in Monday to avoid any succession issues. Justice gave a goodbye address to the Legislature Wednesday during its organizational session.

“I hope to goodness when I walk out that door, you’ll think the one thing Jim did was he drove himself, he didn’t take a salary, he put all of his money in Communities in Schools, and he did exactly what he should have done: He served and he told us the truth,” Justice said.