Jim Justice, the Republican US senator, and his wife have agreed to pay more than $5m that the couple owes in back taxes shortly after they were sued over the 16-year-old debt by the federal government.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in their home state of West Virginia, maintained that the Justices had received notice from the US treasury department of the funds due since 2009 but had “neglected or refused to make full payment of those assessments”.
The suit demanded that Jim and Cathy Justice – a member of West Virginia’s state board of education – pay back the balance of nearly $5.2m along with any other relief that the court deemed “just and proper”.
A separate filing later on Monday said the US justice department had struck a settlement with the political couple, who agreed to satisfy the full amount “plus statutory interest and other additions to tax accruing thereafter”. The agreement was pending a judge’s approval.
Justice’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment early on Tuesday. He had previously sought to dismiss as political attacks attempts to collect on financial debts for which he was on the hook.
Monday’s lawsuit against Justice – a coal mining heir – and his wife came after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in October filed more than $8m in liens against the Justices over unpaid personal taxes.
Furthermore, West Virginia tax collectors placed a $1.4m lien on the luxurious Greenbrier hotel resort that their family owns and operates in White Sulphur Springs, a community in the Alleghany Mountains.
The Justice family only narrowly avoided foreclosure for the Greenbrier by reaching an agreement with a credit collection company in August 2024. They bought the 246-year-old property – whose guests have included US presidents from Martin van Buren to Donald Trump – out of bankruptcy in 2009 for $20.1m.
Jim Justice, who is also the owner of various other businesses, was once considered to be West Virginia’s wealthiest resident. But more than $1bn of collective debt has resulted in his having a projected net worth of “less than zero”, according to a Forbes report from January.
Despite his financial troubles, Jim Justice served as West Virginia’s governor for eight years beginning in 2017. He then won election to the US Senate, taking over a seat vacated by the retirement of his fellow West Virginia coal tycoon Joe Manchin, a Democrat.
Speaking with local media in October, Justice claimed that there were political motives behind the collection efforts against him, the Associated Press reported. He argued at the time that his businesses “are complicated and complex” – and that his children had been “doing a magnificent job” running them.
“At the end of the day, I’d say just let it be and see how it plays out,” Justice said, according to the AP.
