PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release August 20, 2026.
WV Democratic Party Calls for IRS Investigation into Possible Double Standard in Justice Family Tax Enforcement
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin has formally asked IRS Criminal Investigation to review more than $8 million in recently reported federal payroll-tax liens against The Greenbrier’s ownership group and determine whether businesses associated with U.S. Senator Jim Justice and his family are receiving different treatment than ordinary West Virginia business owners who have faced federal prosecution and imprisonment for similar tax offenses involving far smaller amounts.
In a letter dated August 19, Pushkin asked the IRS to independently examine the circumstances surrounding the Greenbrier tax liabilities, including whether federal income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes were withheld from employees’ paychecks but not timely remitted to the U.S. Treasury.
“This is fundamentally a question of equal treatment under the law,” Pushkin said. “West Virginia business owners have been investigated, prosecuted and even sent to federal prison for failing to turn over hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes withheld from their employees. When more than $8 million in payroll-tax liens are filed against businesses controlled by the family of a sitting United States senator, West Virginians have every right to ask whether the same standards are being applied.”
According to publicly reported IRS filings, federal tax liens totaling more than $8 million were recently filed against The Greenbrier’s ownership group for payroll-tax obligations — approximately $4.92 million for the tax period ending December 31, 2025, and another $3.08 million for the period ending March 31, 2026. The reported obligations include federal income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from workers’ paychecks, along with employer obligations.
The latest liens follow a history of tax problems involving Justice family businesses. In 2021, IRS records showed approximately $1.5 million in federal liens against The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation for previously unpaid payroll taxes dating to 2018. Those liens were subsequently released after payment. In 2025, the West Virginia Tax Division filed approximately $1.36 million in state tax liens against The Greenbrier Hotel and Sporting Club involving sales taxes.
Pushkin emphasized that a tax lien alone does not prove a crime and that neither the amount owed nor the existence of repeated liens establishes that anyone acted willfully.
“That is exactly why we are asking for an investigation,” Pushkin said. “We are not asking the IRS to assume anyone is guilty. We are asking the IRS to determine the facts and make sure the law is being enforced without regard to wealth, political power or family connections.”
The letter contrasts the Justice businesses’ tax liabilities with several cases in which West Virginia business owners were criminally prosecuted for failing to remit employment taxes (See attached).
Pushkin said the issue is particularly sensitive because Moore Capito currently serves as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. Pushkin’s letter makes no allegation that Capito has interfered with or declined any investigation and acknowledges that neither the Democratic Party nor the public has access to confidential IRS or Justice Department information concerning whether an investigation is already underway.
“That uncertainty is precisely why an independent review by IRS Criminal Investigation is appropriate,” Pushkin said. “The public should not have to wonder whether there is one system of justice for a politically connected billionaire family and another for a small-business owner in Charleston, Montgomery or Hurricane.”
Pushkin’s letter asks IRS Criminal Investigation to review the current liabilities and the history of previous employment-tax delinquencies involving Justice family businesses; identify who was legally responsible for collecting and remitting employee taxes; determine whether any failure was willful; consider whether the facts warrant investigation under federal criminal tax laws; and determine whether the same investigative standards used in comparable West Virginia cases have been applied.
“Money taken out of a worker’s paycheck for Social Security, Medicare and federal income taxes isn’t simply another unpaid bill,” Pushkin said. “That money belongs to the worker and is supposed to be sent to the government on that worker’s behalf. West Virginians who play by the rules deserve to know those rules apply equally to everyone — including the rich and politically powerful.”
The West Virginia Democratic Party’s August 19 letter requesting the IRS Criminal Investigation review is below.
August 19, 2026
████████████
Supervisory Special Agent
Internal Revenue Service
Criminal Investigation
16 Sterling Drive
Bridgeport, WV 26330
Dear Sir or Madam:
I write in my capacity as Chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party to respectfully request that the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation review the circumstances surrounding the repeated failure of businesses associated with United States Senator Jim Justice and his family to remit federal employment taxes and determine whether those circumstances warrant criminal investigation.
I make this request because of an apparent and troubling disparity between the treatment of the Justice family's businesses and the enforcement actions federal authorities have pursued against other West Virginia business owners involving substantially smaller amounts of unpaid employment taxes.
According to recently reported IRS filings, federal tax liens totaling more than $8 million have been filed against The Greenbrier's ownership group for unpaid payroll-tax obligations. The reported balances include approximately $4.92 million for the tax period ending December 31, 2025, and $3.08 million for the period ending March 31, 2026. The obligations reportedly include federal income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from employees' paychecks, as well as the employer's matching obligations.[1]
These liabilities do not appear to be an isolated occurrence. In 2021, IRS records showed that The Greenbrier Hotel Corporation had faced approximately $1.5 million in federal liens for previously unpaid payroll taxes dating to 2018. Those liens were subsequently released after payment.[2] In 2025, the West Virginia Tax Division also filed approximately $1.36 million in state tax liens against The Greenbrier Hotel and Sporting Club involving sales taxes.[3]
I recognize an important legal distinction: the existence of a tax lien does not by itself establish criminal conduct, nor does the amount owed establish willfulness. Those are matters for professional investigators to determine based on the evidence. That is precisely why I am requesting an investigation rather than prejudging its outcome.
What raises serious concerns about equal enforcement is the contrast between these recurring, multimillion-dollar tax liabilities and employment-tax cases that IRS Criminal Investigation and federal prosecutors have pursued against other West Virginia business owners.
In Charleston, Luther A. Hanson pleaded guilty to willful failure to pay over employment taxes. Court records described approximately $149,905 in employment taxes associated with the conduct, and Hanson ultimately paid $146,771.37 owed to the Treasury and was fined $5,000.[4] Significantly, in February 2026, U.S. Attorney Moore Capito's own office highlighted the Hanson tax prosecution in a news release announcing its collection of more than $4.3 million through criminal and civil enforcement actions.[5]
In Montgomery, business owner Steve Lopez admitted failing to pay approximately $393,851 in employment taxes, including Social Security, Medicare and federal income taxes withheld from employees' wages. IRS Criminal Investigation investigated that case. Lopez was subsequently sentenced to 15 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $393,851 in restitution.[6]
In Hurricane, business owner Dean E. Dawson was sentenced in August 2025 to 18 months in federal prison for willfully failing to pay over employment taxes. According to the Justice Department, Dawson failed between 2015 and 2022 to remit taxes withheld from his employees' paychecks and used business accounts to pay certain personal expenses. The government calculated the total tax loss at approximately $525,000. IRS Criminal Investigation investigated that case as well.[7]
Federal prosecutors likewise pursued corporate executives Daniel Hovis and Janice Hensley after their company failed to remit more than $630,000 in federal employment taxes. Both were sentenced to federal prison—Hovis to two years and Hensley to one year and eight months.[8]
These cases demonstrate that the federal government appropriately treats the failure to remit employment taxes as a serious matter. They also demonstrate that West Virginia business owners have faced IRS criminal investigations, prosecution, restitution and, in several instances, imprisonment for amounts representing a small fraction of the more than $8 million covered by the recently reported Greenbrier liens.
The comparison is difficult to ignore.
A West Virginia business owner who failed to pay approximately $394,000 went to federal prison. Another who caused approximately $525,000 in tax loss received an 18-month federal prison sentence. Two corporate executives went to prison over approximately $630,000. Yet the latest reported payroll-tax liens associated with The Greenbrier alone exceed $8 million.
The amount involved, of course, does not establish that the underlying conduct is identical. But the disparity is substantial enough to raise a legitimate question: Are the same investigative and enforcement standards being applied when the business involved is controlled by the family of a sitting United States senator?
That question takes on additional significance because the current United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia is Moore Capito. We do not have access to confidential IRS or Department of Justice information and therefore cannot know whether the Greenbrier matter has already been referred for criminal investigation, whether an investigation is underway, or what role, if any, the U.S. Attorney's Office has played in reviewing these matters.
That uncertainty is one reason I believe an independent review by IRS Criminal Investigation is warranted.
Accordingly, I respectfully request that IRS Criminal Investigation:
Review the circumstances surrounding the recently reported federal employment-tax liabilities of The Greenbrier and related Justice family entities;
Determine whether federal income, Social Security or Medicare taxes were withheld from employees and not timely remitted to the United States Treasury and, if so, identify the individuals responsible for collecting, accounting for and paying over those funds;
Determine whether any failure to pay over employment taxes was willful and whether the evidence warrants investigation under 26 U.S.C. § 7202 or any other applicable federal statute;
Review the history of prior federal employment-tax delinquencies involving these entities to determine whether the recent liabilities are part of a recurring pattern;
Determine whether the same investigative standards ordinarily applied to similarly situated West Virginia business owners have been applied in this matter; and
Take whatever investigative or referral action the evidence warrants, without regard to the wealth, political position, or connections of any individual involved.
I want to emphasize that this letter is not a demand that Senator Justice or any other individual be prosecuted, nor is it an assertion that Senator Justice personally committed a criminal tax violation. Determining who was legally responsible for these employment-tax obligations, what those individuals knew, and whether their conduct satisfies the elements of a federal criminal offense is the responsibility of IRS Criminal Investigation and federal prosecutors.
What we are requesting is equal treatment under the law.
Money withheld from an employee's paycheck for federal income taxes, Social Security and Medicare is not an ordinary commercial debt. Employees have every right to expect that money deducted from their wages will be transmitted to the federal government as required by law.
West Virginians have watched ordinary business owners investigated and prosecuted for failing to meet that obligation. Some have gone to federal prison.
They deserve confidence that the same standards apply when the business involved belongs to one of the wealthiest and most politically powerful families in West Virginia.
The magnitude of the current Greenbrier liabilities makes that question especially compelling. The more than $8 million covered by the recently reported liens is more than 15 times the approximately $525,000 tax loss attributed by the Justice Department to Dean Dawson, whose conduct resulted in an 18-month federal prison sentence.
Again, that numerical comparison does not establish equivalent criminal conduct. It does, however, establish more than sufficient reason for serious scrutiny.
There cannot be one standard of federal tax enforcement for ordinary West Virginia business owners and another for politically connected individuals. The integrity of the tax system—and public confidence in federal law enforcement—depends upon taxpayers believing that wealth, status, and political influence do not determine who gets investigated and who does not.
I therefore respectfully ask IRS Criminal Investigation to examine this matter independently, follow the facts wherever they lead, and ensure that the federal employment-tax laws are being enforced without fear or favor.
Thank you for your attention to this request. I would be pleased to provide copies of the publicly available reports, Department of Justice releases and other materials referenced below, or any additional information that may be useful to your review.
Sincerely,
Mike Pushkin
Chair
West Virginia Democratic Party
[1] WV MetroNews, IRS files $8 million in liens related to payroll taxes against The Greenbrier, August 11, 2026.
[2] WV MetroNews, IRS releases $1.5 million in liens against The Greenbrier Hotel Corp., August 10, 2021.
[3] WV MetroNews, State Tax Department files $1.36 million in liens on The Greenbrier Hotel and Sporting Club, October 22, 2025.
[4] U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia, Charleston Man Sentenced for Federal Tax Crime, May 13, 2025.
[5] U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia, Office of U.S. Attorney Moore Capito Collects $4,322,154.61 in Civil and Criminal Actions in Fiscal Year 2025, February 23, 2026.
[6] U.S. Department of Justice, West Virginia Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Failing to Pay Employment Taxes, December 13, 2017; West Virginia Business Owner Sentenced to Prison for Failing to Pay Employment Taxes, March 14, 2018.
[7] U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia, Putnam County Business Owner Sentenced to Prison for Employment Tax Crimes, August 18, 2025.
[8] U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of West Virginia, Two Corporate Execs Plead Guilty In $630,000 Federal Tax Evasion, May 21, 2013; Two Corporate Execs Sentenced To Federal Prison In $630,000 Tax Evasion Scheme, September 4, 2013.