Stephen Moore, President Trump’s nominee for a position on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, owes more than $75,000 in taxes, according to a court document.
Moore, a supply-side economist and fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, owes the government $75,328 in unpaid taxes and fees from 2014, according to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg.
A January 2018 federal tax lien filed in Montgomery County, Md., where Moore has a house, shows in a circuit court judgment that Moore owes the money. Moore referred questions about the matter to his wife, Anne Carey.
Carey blamed the judgment on a mix-up where Moore accidentally claimed alimony and child support payments to his ex-wife as deductions on his tax form, although only alimony is tax deductible. She claimed the Internal Revenue Service did not notify him about the audit because of confusion with him changing addresses.
“It was not an attempt at defrauding the U.S. government,” Carey said.
Trump announced his intent to nominate Moore for the position this month. Moore was a CNN commentator and the former head of the conservative group Club for Growth. Moore said he would be independent on the board, despite being a staunch defender of Trump’s policies.
