Charleston, WV — A federal judge has decided against sending Don Blankenship’s lawsuit against some of the nation’s biggest media companies to Mingo Circuit Court. Blankenship, a former coal operator whose unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate is the basis for the suit, originally filed it in Mingo Circuit Court, near where he worked for many years running Massey Energy. The $12 billion defamation case claims a conspiracy to damage Blankenship’s campaign over the fatal 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners at Massey’s Upper Big Branch Mine. Fox News, one of the defendants, moved to have the case considered in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Senior status Judge John Copenhaver issued a ruling on Wednesday in agreement. Copenhaver’s order says the case should remain in federal court. A footnote that accompanies the order indicates that Blankenship is not currently a resident of Mingo County or West Virginia.