WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department on Friday sued Roger Stone, Donald Trump’s ally, accusing the conservative provocateur and his wife of paying nearly $ 2 million in income taxes.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He alleges the couple paid less than $ 1.5 million in their income tax between 2007 and 2011 and, separately, Stone also owed more than $ 400,000 for failing to pay his tax bill in full. in 2018.
The lawsuit alleges the couple used a commercial entity known as Drake Ventures to “protect their personal income from forced collection” and to fund a “lavish lifestyle.”
“Despite the notice and the demand for payment, Roger and Nydia Stone have failed and refused to pay all of the obligations,” the lawsuit says.
Stone, a former man trusted by the former president, calls the lawsuit “politically motivated.”
Stone was indicted by the Justice Department of the Russian investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller and convicted at trial for lying to Congress, manipulating a witness and obstructing the House investigation into whether the Trump campaign was coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election. Later, Trump commuted Stone’s sentence and pardoned him.
Stone boasted during the 2016 campaign that he was in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange through a trusted intermediary and made known his deep knowledge of WikiLeaks ’plans to publish more than 19,000 hacked emails since of the servers of the Democratic National Committee. But Stone denied any illegal offense and constantly criticized the case against him for political motivation.
“The Internal Revenue Service is well aware that my three-year battle for freedom against the corrupt Mueller investigation has left me destitute,” Stone told The Associated Press. “They are aware that I have no assets and that their demand has a political motivation. It is particularly interesting that my tax attorneys were not informed of this action, filed at the close of business on a Friday. The American people will learn in court that I am on the verge of bankruptcy and that there are no assets that the government can take.
___
Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.