Florida Man Allegedly Attempts To Extort Tomblin

• {West Virginia}...During the campaign season, the Maloney campaign has issued several news releases and television ads attacking gubernatorial candidate and Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s ties to the greyhound racing industry. Tomblin’s mother owns a greyhound breeding business that has received several million dollars in state subsidies. Tomblin was president of the state Senate when those subsidies were approved. Maloney has said Tomblin should have recused himself from voting on that legislation. Harry Marshall Rae of Florida was arrested Thursday in California after he allegedly attempted to extort $50,000 from a West Virginia greyhound breeder and sent an email to Tomblin’s office and threatened to release videos related to greyhound breeding to Maloney’s campaign, ESPN and other media outlets. According to animal rights group Grey2K USA, Rae, a former greyhound trainer, contacted them regarding the possibility of animal cruelty issues in the greyhound racing industry. Grey2K asked Rae to contact a private investigator named “Greg,” who was working on a project aimed at uncovering animal cruelty in the greyhound racing industry. Rae also contacted a West Virginia greyhound breeder stating his desire to sell video tapes of these illegal greyhound training methods. That breeder forwarded the email to industry leaders and an attorney who contacted the West Virginia State Police. The State Police teamed up with the FBI to conduct the investigation which led to Rae’s arrest. Maloney’s campaign says it has never communicated with Rae.