Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) is now facing a federal tax lien over millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, a new report revealed.
Politico reported on Saturday that the IRS filed the lien against Justice after the freshman senator, along with his wife Cathy, have failed to pay $8 million in taxes.
According to one IRS document, some of that tax debt goes back to November of 2015. The IRS generally has 10 years to collect outstanding taxes, which puts the agency right at the statute of limitations.
Justice, 74, took over Joe Manchin’s Senate seat this year after serving as West Virginia’s governor for eight years. In that November election, he cruised against then-Mayor Glenn Elliott, a Democrat, winning nearly 70% of the vote.
Despite the electoral successes in what is a reliably red state, Justice has been no stranger to scrutiny, particularly over his more than 100 businesses, which include coal mines, processing facilities, agricultural companies, and the luxury Greenbrier Resort.
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The heir to his family’s coal empire, Justice has suffered significant legal and financial woes, including a 2023 lawsuit by the Department of Justice seeking unpaid penalties for previous mining law violations.
In January of this year, Forbes also reported that Justice, once thought of as West Virginia’s richest man, was more than $1 billion in debt.
