We would not be commenting here on last week’s news story about the failure of Democratic candidate for county judge, Ruben Becerra, to pay his taxes – except that Mr. Becerra and his family seem determined to keep the story alive.
Rather than explaining himself, or paying his taxes (or just keeping quiet and letting the campaign move on), Mr. Becerra – or at least his campaign, and sometimes family members speaking as surrogates – is aggressively on the attack against the Hays Free Press and the News-Dispatch, misrepresenting some facts, fabricating conspiracy theories, and – in imitation of national politicians caught in embarrassing positions – crying “fake news.”
To refresh: we reported last week that Becerra owes almost $90,000 in back taxes; the IRS recently filed a lien against his business property for, among other things, withholding payroll taxes from his employees’ paychecks but then never paying the withheld funds to the government. This came to light recently when the IRS listed liens in a public notice that contradicted earlier statements by Becerra, prompting a Hays Free Press reporter to investigate.
