Topline
Senator Jim Justice, R-W.Va., and his wife agreed to pay more than $5 million to settle a federal complaint brought against them by the Justice Department on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service, alleging they “neglected” notices demanding payment of alleged unpaid federal income taxes and penalties on their 2009 earnings.
Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) leaves the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building.
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Key Facts
A civil complaint against the GOP senator and his wife, Cathy Justice, was filed on Monday, seeking $5.16 million in outstanding tax liabilities from the 2009 tax year.
The complaint said Justice and his wife were sent a “notice of the tax assessments,” with a “demand for payment,” but the defendants “neglected or refused to make full payment.”
Shortly after the filing, the senator and his wife entered a joint motion seeking court approval of a consent judgment under which they agreed to pay the $5.16 million they owed as of August 4, 2025, “plus statutory interest and other additions to tax accruing thereafter.”
Justice, who served as West Virginia’s governor from 2017 to 2025, has not publicly commented on the settlement.
Justice won the Senate race in his state last year, helping Republicans flip the seat, which had been held by retiring Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.
Key Background
Over the past few years, Justice and companies have faced scrutiny over financial troubles, including unpaid taxes and running more than $1 billion in debt. Earlier this year, Forbes reported that the former billionaire was sworn in to the Senate in January as “one of the nation’s poorest senators.” In 2009, Justice received his big payday amid surging metallurgical coal prices, selling Bluestone Resources—which he inherited from his father—to the Russian mining giant Mechel for $436 million in cash. In 2014, facing falling coal prices, Mechen sued Justice for fraud, but they settled the case a year later when Justice bought back his company from them for $5 million—a fraction of the original sale price.