That’s a lot of kibble.
Sen. Jim Justice (R‑WV), whose cherished bulldog Babydog has won a favorite club in DC since he took the Senate seat in January, has agreed to pay more than $5 million to settle a tax debt that dates back to 2009.
The Department of Justice filed a complaint in federal court in Beckley, West Virginia, on Monday, alleging that Justice and his wife Cathy owed $5,164,739.75 in “federal income taxes, penalties, and interest” as of August 4. The complaint said the Justices had “neglected or refused to make full payment,” despite receiving notice from the Treasury Department.
Later that same day, the DOJ and the Justices submitted a joint motion to pay the outstanding amount.
Justice, who served as West Virginia’s governor from 2017 until his 2024 Senate election, inherited a coal‑mining and agriculture empire from his father and once held billionaire status.
In 2009 he sold Bluestone Coal Corporation for $436 million in cash, plus an undisclosed amount in shares, to the Russian company Mechel—a deal he later described as turning the business into a “god‑awful mess.” He repurchased the company in 2015 for just $5 million, but has subsequently faced a series of lawsuits over unpaid mining fees, fines for safety violations, and withheld royalty payments to Mechel’s subsidiary, Caroleng Investments.
In June of last year, a federal judge in Delaware ordered Justice to liquidate six of his family companies to help satisfy a $10 million debt to Caroleng. That ruling also led to the seizure and sale of a helicopter owned by another firm linked to the senator.
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