The junior U.S. senator representing a state with one of the highest rates of childhood poverty in the country has been slapped with an $8 million IRS tax lien, Politico reported Monday.
Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV), the former governor who assumed former Sen. Joe Manchin's seat, is tardy on making good on assessments dating back to 2009 -- debt that has followed him long before he was elected as governor in 2016.
Justice’s fortune comes from farming, resorts and ownership of coal mines that he sold to Russian interests for $568 million in cash and stock, also in 2009. He later repurchased them at a discount.
According to Politico, information about the lien came out over the weekend when the press was consumed with the nationwide “No Kings” rally against Donald Trump.
The report noted, “It wasn’t immediately clear why the IRS decided to move forward with the lien at this time. The IRS filed two documents. Both indicate they were prepared and signed Sept. 30, and stamped Oct. 2 by a clerk for Greenbrier County,” adding, “One of the assessments from the IRS is dated Nov. 25, 2015, appearing to put the agency near the end of its 10-year window for taking action.”
While running for the Senate seat he now inhabits, the 74-year old Justice pushed back at reports of his tax woes, telling reporters, “I’ve told everyone that if you’ll tend to the business of the state of West Virginia as I’m tending to the business of the state and you’ll just stay out of my family’s personal stuff, you’ll find the final outcomes will be exactly what I’ve told you they’ll be. They’ll be worked out.”