Former President Donald Trump and his top election-fraud lawyer, Jesse Binnall, have a number of things in common—they both falsely believe the election was stolen, they hobnob with some of the right’s most unhinged conspiracy theorists, and they routinely complain that they’re the focus of a witch hunt. But another similarity has flown under the radar: Both men avoid paying taxes.
According to IRS records, Binnall owes the U.S. government for unpaid taxes dating back to 2010. The IRS filed a $139,242 lien against Binnall almost four years ago—in August 2018— and it covers unpaid amounts every tax year from 2010 to 2015. Records on file with the City of Alexandria, VA, show that, as of May 5, Binnall has not paid off the lien.
Leslie Levin, an expert in the legal profession at the University of Connecticut School of Law, told The Daily Beast that if Binnall willfully failed to file, he would be breaking the law and possibly violating legal ethics rules.
“It depends on why the lien was levied and why he hasn’t paid. If he refused to file, that raises ethical issues. The deliberate failure to file constitutes a crime,” Levin said. “If he has a good faith basis for contesting whether he owes the money, however, there is no ethical violation there.”
Binnall told The Daily Beast that his failure to pay the government was a matter of financial flexibility.
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