Massey Managers Saw U.S. ‘Conspiracy’ Against Company

Massey Energy Co.’s management believed government officials, including President Barack Obama, conspired to destroy the coal producer, according to unsealed court records in a case related to a fatal mine accident.

Don Blankenship, Massey’s former chief executive officer, and Chairman Bobby Ray Inman, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, made clear in sworn testimony that they “firmly believed the company was being targeted by the government,” lawyers for Massey investors who are suing the company’s directors said in filings unsealed today in state court in Delaware.