Anti-government activist Ammon Bundy wrote in court filings he hasn’t paid income tax to state and federal governments since 2018.
The amended application in his Chapter 7 bankruptcy case shows Bundy owes the Internal Revenue Service and the states of Arizona and Idaho $87,434 in back taxes.
The bulk of that money – $69,100 – Bundy said is owed to the federal government. Arizona and Idaho are owed $13,626 and $4,708 respectively, according to his application.
The reason he refuses to “voluntarily” pay these income taxes, he said, is due to his arrest and subsequent detention after seizing control of a federal wildlife refuge in 2016.
“[Bundy] intends on abstaining from paying into coffers that are used to destroy his family, friends and countrymen,” he wrote.
“Mr. Bundy has personal knowledge through experience that the DOJ (especially the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office) is a cesspool of conspiracies, corruption and murders and the thought of paying a dime to support such institutions is repulsive to him.”
A jury acquitted Bundy, one of his brothers and several followers for their actions during the takeover. Officials subsequently held him for two years in another case involving a 2014 standoff with federal agents related to his father’s Nevada ranch and grazing rights.
A judge later declared a mistrial and set Bundy free.
Bundy’s main reason for filing for bankruptcy earlier this summer is to discharge a $53 million civil judgment levied against him by an Idaho court for defaming St. Luke’s Health System.
The case stems from 2022 when Bundy and his followers staged protests at two St. Luke’s hospitals after police took friend’s grandchild in for medical evaluations.
One protest caused the downtown Boise hospital to go into lockdown and forced ambulances to reroute to other locations. Healthcare workers also received threats during the protests.
St. Luke’s objected to Bundy’s bankruptcy application in October, saying he had maliciously and knowingly defamed the health group, which is a reason outlined in federal law that can be used to deny a debt from being discharged.
A Utah bankruptcy judge will consider rejecting Bundy’s request to lift the judgment Jan. 8.
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