Crypto bull and 2020 presidential candidate John McAfee claimed in a tweet Friday that the CIA has attempted “to collect” him and his wife Janice Dyson at sea. The tweet included a photo of McAfee and Dyson flexing some fire power. It appeared to be warning to the authorities McAfee says are hot on his trail.
Standing on the deck of their boat– a a four-level, 74″ fishing yacht built 20 years ago by boat maker Buddy Davis– the photo shows John McAfee holding an AR-15 rifle, and Janice Dyson sporting some sort of semi-automatic shotgun, maybe a Benelli. (If any CCN readers can identify it please let us know in the comments.)
The CIA has attempted to collect us. We are at sea now and will report more soon. I will continue to be dark for the next few days. pic.twitter.com/o79zsbxISl
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) July 19, 2019
John McAfee Mystery Solved
On Tuesday John McAfee’s 2020 presidential campaign manager tweeted on McAfee’s account:
“Developing events have made it necessary for John McAfee to go dark. Please be advised that this account will be operated by staff until further notice. More details will be released in time.”
Developing events have made it necessary for John McAfee to go dark. Please be advised that this account will be operated by staff until further notice. More details will be released in time.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) May 16, 2019
The tweet touched off a flurry of speculation as to what events had transpired, and whether McAfee was in trouble. The Dot Com era millionaire, libertarian politician, and perennial purveyor of altcoins has been evading the IRS since January. That’s when a federal court grand jury summoned John McAfee and his wife to Lexington, Tennessee on felony charges on allegations of 8 years of delinquent taxes.
The news also inspired some good old Twitter spit-balling.
Owe the coke man??
— Rod:???? (@bullable_Guy456) May 16, 2019
The “coke man?” Who’s that, Jamie Dimon?
A Monetary Rebel With A Cause
John McAfee says the government’s targeting him however, for his outspoken cryptocurrency activism:
“Because when privacy coins are widely used, governments will no longer be able to collect income taxes. Meaning governments will have to shrink and find new means.
And I’ve always said this is a good thing. And I’ve said we will at some point be at war. We are today at war.”
He does admit to not paying taxes. This January he said:
“I have not paid taxes for eight years. I’ve made no secret of it. I have not filed returns. Every year I tell the IRS I’m not filing returns. I have no intention of doing so. Come and find me. It’s not illegal.”
Following up on his tweet about the CIA trying to collect him and his wife Friday, McAfee repeated his assertion that not filing tax returns is not illegal.
I Am a presidential candidate with 1.2 mil followers. My crime is not filing tax returns – not a crime. The rest is propaganda by the U.S. government to silence me. My voice is the voice of dissent. If I am silenced, dissent itself will be next.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) July 19, 2019
There is a small, however irate minority of Americans who, like John McAfee, have made up the modern American tax protest movement for decades. They see themselves as modern versions of the original Boston Tea Partiers who sparked the American war for independence, or the Pennsylvania and Kentucky farmers who protested George Washington’s whisky tax.
Most notable among them is the late Irwin Schiff (the father of prominent libertarian hedge fund manager and crypto-skeptic, Peter Schiff). He died in federal prison at the age of 87 for refusing to pay his income tax.