OAN’s Brooke Mallory
12:28 PM – Thursday, January 11, 2024
John Anthony Castro, a Republican candidate from Texas who unsuccessfully attempted to run for presidential office in 2024 and who has been campaigning to have former President Donald Trump disqualified from the ballot on the grounds of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause,” was arrested on charges of federal tax fraud on Tuesday.
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The arrest came a day after a Nevada federal judge dismissed one of his lawsuits aimed at preventing Trump from running.
On Monday, Castro was charged with 33 counts of aiding the preparation of false tax returns. According to the prosecution, he operated a virtual tax preparation company that defrauded the government by giving clients tax returns that were higher than what they were actually owed.
“Castro would promise a significantly higher refund than taxpayers could receive from other preparers and on many occasions, offered to split the additional refund with taxpayers,” court documents stated. “In order to achieve these larger refunds, Castro generated false deductions, that were not based in fact, and which were submitted without the taxpayer’s knowledge.”
Prosecutors say that Castro was apprehended by an undercover police officer who pretended to be a client of his tax services. Castro told the undercover officer that he could receive $6,007 as a tax return as long as he “gets half,” whereas a second honest tax consultant had told the undercover agent that he would only be receiving a $373 return.
The tax documents Castro filed on behalf of the undercover officer contained nearly $30,000 in unlawfully claimed deductions, authorities said.
In addition, Castro was a longshot contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, aside from his legal objections to Trump’s eligibility to run, there is not much information regarding his unsuccessful campaign. Castro has argued that Trump’s alleged “participation in the Capitol protest on January 6th” violates the 14th Amendment and he has filed a number of objections to Trump’s ballot placement in 27 different states.
On the same day that his New Hampshire ballot challenge was denied, he was charged. Additionally, Florida rejected his attempts. Most recently, he filed an objection in Nevada on Tuesday. Although there are still several ongoing 14th Amendment lawsuits, none have garnered much traction.
Nonetheless, the Supreme Court will soon hear arguments regarding attempts to disqualify Trump from the presidential ballot in states like Maine and Colorado, the high court announced last week.
Castro still doubled down and adamantly maintained his own innocence regarding the tax fraud charges.
“I don’t care if they offered me one-day probation and a slap on the wrist in exchange for a guilty plea,” Castro said. “This is going to trial. I am going to convince all 12 jurors that I am 100 percent innocent and that this is political retaliation.”
Additionally, due to the timing of the indictment, Castro asserted that the prosecution is connected to his arguments regarding the 14th Amendment against Trump. Between 2018 and 2020, the purported fraudulent returns were filed.
The failed GOP contender also claimed that a condition of his release that kept him inside the Northern District of Texas without prior authorization may jeopardize his scheduled appearances in West Virginia, Kansas, and Montana for 14th Amendment challenges.
Castro’s next court date is scheduled for January 17th.
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