An explosive new report details how North Carolina GOP gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson failed to pay income taxes for five years and relied on bankruptcy court protection — all while disparaging the social safety net and those who rely on it.
Read the report here or the key points below.
ABC News: Bankruptcy documents detail how GOP NC governor nominee Mark Robinson failed to file federal income taxes for 5 years
Mark Robinson claims Democrats have caused the “death” of “responsibility.”
By: Will Steakin | April 11, 2024
Key Points:
- And while Robinson has previously talked about his financial issues, bankruptcy records obtained by ABC News paint a more dire and detailed picture of his financial and business history than has previously been disclosed — including new details regarding how the potential future governor had failed to file his federal income taxes for five consecutive years starting in 1998.
- In his 2022 autobiography “We Are The Majority,” Robinson wrote that his wife decided to open a daycare center in 2000 and that “by God’s grace, it became extremely successful.” Robinson was “blessed to start, run, and sell a successful small business with his wife,” according to the lieutenant governor’s office website.
- In the book, Robinson, who became North Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor in 2020, described the business as “running well” and said that “we paid our bills on time,” while also noting it was a “tough business to keep afloat.” The book, however, fails to mention Robinson filing for bankruptcy a few years after opening the daycare.
- According to the United States Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of North Carolina, Mark and Yolanda Robinson, doing business as Precious Beginnings, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy on January 8, 2003. Robinson had previously filed for bankruptcy on two other occasions in 1998 and 1999.
- In seeking bankruptcy protection, the Robinson family described a series of grave economic circumstances. According to their 2003 filing, the family faced the repossession of two vehicles and the impending foreclosure of their Greensboro home. The records also show that, at the time, Robinson had just $70 to his name — $40 in cash and $30 in savings — as well as $4,720 in personal property. They also reported debts surpassing $1 million, including $290,525 in unsecured debts and $871,550 in secured debts.
- Robinson, according to the documents, had also failed to file income taxes for five years. After filing for bankruptcy in 2003, the Internal Revenue Service filed a motion for the Bankruptcy Court to compel Robinson to file taxes for the years 1998-2002.
- In October 2003, the Robinsons lost their Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection due to the “failure of the debtors to comply with the requirements of the plan,” according to the records.
- Robinson has previously faced questions about his taxes. When he was confronted in 2022 about having hundreds of dollars in delinquent Guilford County vehicle tax bills, Robinson initially suggested that his wife handled their taxes, according to WRAL-TV News in Raleigh.
- Yet despite relying on protection from the bankruptcy courts during his early days of financial troubles, Robinson’s political rise has coincided with his railing against the social safety net while calling on citizens to take responsibility for their financial situation.
- “The war on poverty was started and waged to win votes. It was a pandering ploy by the Democratic Party to gain the votes of poor people,” Robinson said on the Anomic Age Podcast in 2019. “The very first person you should look to to take care of yourself should be you, and it’s caused, really, the death in this country of responsibility.”
- “We don’t have a charity problem in this country. There are plenty of places where charity is available,” he said. “The problem is we have people that have been abusing the system for far too long. And too many of these social programs have degraded our work ethic.”
- “If you’re not responsible with your finances, you don’t pay your bills on time, you’re not going to be able to have the freedom to do things other folks do. You won’t have the freedom to be able to buy the kind of house you want, or car you want to buy. If you’re not responsible when it comes to law and order, you’re going to eventually lose your freedom,” Robinson said. “And you see in everything that these Democrats now are pushing, they’re taking the responsibility out of it.”
- In Facebook posts in 2020, as Democrats were pushing for student loan forgiveness plans, Robinson railed against the idea, writing, “So since we’re talking about canceling ‘student debt’ I’ve got some ‘parent debt’ to cancel too. You know, stuff like a mortgage and auto loans.”
Published: Apr 11, 2024 | Last Modified: Apr 15, 2024