A Senator’s Tax Trouble: What’s Really Going On?

Senator Jim Justice and his wife have agreed to pay over $5 million in back taxes from 2009. This deal came right after the IRS sued them, saying they hadn’t paid their full taxes for that year. The lawsuit claimed they owed over $5. 16 million, including interest. The agreement doesn’t set a deadline for payment, but it does say they’ll pay the full amount plus any extra interest that builds up. Justice has said before that these tax issues are politically motivated. He thinks the IRS is targeting him because of his 2024 Senate run. But the IRS has been after him since 2015, when they first said he owed back taxes. Back then, Joe Biden was vice president, not president. So, Justice’s claim that Biden’s administration is picking on him doesn’t quite add up. In 2009, Justice was a businessman in the coal industry. He didn’t explain why he thinks the Obama administration would target him back then. Later, he ran for governor as a Democrat and won. Then, he switched to the Republican side, teamed up with Trump, and won again. The big question is: Why did it take so long for this to get sorted out? And why is Justice bringing politics into it now? It’s a messy situation, and it’s not clear if politics really played a role. One thing’s for sure: Justice has a lot of explaining to do.