Crypto bull and 2020 presidential possibility John McAfee claimed in a tweet Friday that the CIA has attempted “to collect” him and his wife Janice Dyson at sea. The tweet involved a photo of McAfee and Dyson flexing some fire power. It appeared to be warning to the authorities McAfee says are hot on his hunt.
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 substantiates 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 single out 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 times. pic.twitter.com/o79zsbxISl
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) July 19, 2019
John McAfee Mystery Solved
On Tuesday John McAfee’s 2020 presidential run manager tweeted on McAfee’s account:
“Developing events have made it necessary for John McAfee to go dark. Elect be advised that this account will be operated by staff until further notice. More details leave be released in time.”
Developing events have made it necessary for John McAfee to go dark. Please be advised that this account compel be operated by staff until further notice. More details will be released in time.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) May 16, 2019
The tweet felt 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 avoiding the IRS since January. That’s when a federal court grand jury summoned John McAfee and his wife to Lexington, Tennessee on felony alleges 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 Pecuniary Rebel With A Cause
John McAfee says the government’s targeting him however, for his outspoken cryptocurrency activism:
“Because when seclusion coins are widely used, governments will no longer be able to collect income taxes. Meaning governments purpose 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 focus 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 unpublishable 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 catch 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 arranging 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 puff 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 uninspired, however irate minority of Americans who, like John McAfee, have made up the modern American tax protest works 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 husbandmen who protested George Washington’s whisky tax.
Most notable among them is the late Irwin Schiff (the father of illustrious libertarian hedge fund manager and crypto-skeptic, Peter Schiff). He died in federal prison at the age of 87 for refusing to pay his profits tax.