John McAfee Media FAQ How do you respond to the charges against you? I am a Libertarian and ran for the presidential nominee in 2016. I came in third. Many in our party believe that taxing income is unconstitutional. Our original constitution explicitly stated that Congress shall pass no laws that reduce a person's ability to use the fruits of their labor. This was included to ensure that a feudal society, one in which a king could claim a percentage of a farmer's crop, a blacksmith's horseshoes or a shirt maker's shirts, in effect the fruits of their labor. In America today the fruits of our labor is in the form of money. Congress has the right to amend the constitution but if it passed an amendment removing our right to assemble we would rebel. The income tax amendment was passed at the beginning of world war one. In times of fear the populace will accept anything but the income tax amendment, in truth, is no less odious than an amendment to remove our rights to free speech. I have refused, in principle, to file returns or voluntarily pay taxes for ten years and for ten years have informed the IRS my refusal and my reasons. They had the right, after all, to confiscate any or all of my assets. They did nothing for all of those years until I announced my intention to run for president again under the Libertarian banner. For those who say, how can we run the government without income taxes, I urge you to study history. Prior to the income tax amendment we were the greatest industrial power in the world and the envy of every nation. The income tax has done nothing but bloat the machinery of our government. I will not be complicit in this madness by overtly supporting it by filing my "required" tax returns. How are you feeling in prison? I am content. It is not where a person is that matters, it is who you are inside. What are your chances of winning the extradition case? 100%. Spain, with its turbulent history and political oppression under Franco, understands political persecution better than any country in Europe. In addition, American imperialism is increasingly resented by the Spanish populace. The courts will see the clear resentment of the American government toward my public condemnations of their increasing corruption. They also understand how simple it is for a corrupt system to manufacture evidence that can prove anything against anyone who is a public enemy. They will decline my extradition. How is life in prison? Well I have been in jail numerous times, all for civil disobedience with the exception of one DUI, I have only been imprisoned three times. There is a huge difference between jail and prison. So far I can say that Spanish prisons are the most humane and by far the most entertaining. One nice aspect of Spanish prisons is that prison uniforms are not required. You may dress according to your means and your desires. For the poor of course orange jumpsuits are issued and a few of the under privileged prisoners wear them. I was issued one on arrival as all are and occasionally wear mine when the mood strikes me. At other times I wear everything from a suit and tie to lounge wear. One oddity is nudity is unacceptable even in the showers, where men shower in their underwear. Perhaps it is merely a precautionary measure for when one drops the soap. What about your crypto projects? My only remaining project is $GHOST. When our private stablecoin is released, it will revolutionize crypto transactions. I have capable managers and communicate frequently from prison. Why did you run from justice? What justice is there when the U.S. government is determined to silence a public critic of the system, especially since the investigation began after my 2016 presidential run under the direction of James Comey, the disgraced head of the federal bureau of investigation - an agency now capable of detaining people indefinitely without a court order and imminently capable of pulling whatever evidence out of their ass that will guarantee a conviction. What will you do if released? The same as before, continue speaking against the cancer that has invaded every organ of the U.S. government bureaucracy. Are you sorry for what you've done? I have followed my heart and stood up for my beliefs. I will never regret that. Did you kill your neighbor? The prosecutor claims I am wanted for murder in Belize. This is false. I was not charged with murder nor was I a suspect. The Belizean authorities will confirm this. I was a person of interest like all of the murdered man's neighbors. I chose not to be questioned. I was already at war with the Belizean government. More on Belize What about the $25 million dollar judgement against you? It was a civil suit not a criminal issue. I never even responded to the suit. It was simply a default judgement. I was not charged with murder nor was I a suspect. The Belizean authorities will confirm this. I was a person of interest like all of the murdered man's neighbors. I chose not to be questioned. I was already at war with the Belizean government. Why does the U.S. government want you so badly? I speak out. I once publicly called the SEC a festering pustule on the face of America, and the IRS - a legalized criminal gang aspiring to be the equivalent of Hitler's SS. These are the two agencies accusing me of hideous crimes. I can only assume that they took offense at my remarks. Isn't the American system of justice a good system? If extradited I face 35 years in prison for multiple counts of refusing to file tax returns. Had I chosen armed robbery I would've received 5 years maximum. You tell me if it's just. Do you have a lawyer in America? I will not need one. There is zero chance that Spain will extradite me. Where have you been hiding? I will not say. I may need to hide again someday. How is your wife handling your imprisonment? She is a pillar of strength. She is doing fine. Have you received help from anyone while in hiding? : I have always lived by my own devices. I have learned that you can trust no one but yourself. So far, my wife has been a notable exception. She has been my only help. Where do you get your money to live on? I founded the largest computer security company in the world. It is a ridiculous question. What do you miss most in prison? I miss only one thing in prison, my wife Janice. She has been my inspiration, my muse, my friend, my confidante and my lover. She encourages and supports me. But more than anything, she is my reason for living. Do you still support the Libertarian party? I support any party whose goal is the reduction of the obscene obesity of the American government. You bragged about your ability to evade the U.S. authorities. How about now? I have not been caught by the U.S., I am simply detained in Spain waiting for the Spanish courts to decide whether to turn me over to the U.S. There is zero chance they will extradite me. Why? The courts will see the clear resentment of the American government toward my public condemnations of their increasing corruption. They also understand how simple it is for a corrupt system to manufacture evidence that can prove anything against anyone who is a public enemy. They will decline my extradition. Are you being treated well in prison? Spanish prisons are like the Hilton hotel compared to the abject surreality and dehumanization of American prisons. In Spanish prisons you are treated as a human being instead of a number. I am treated well. What passport were you traveling under? My legal British passport which the American government had reported as stolen. You can do that online these days without any verification provided you have the person's full personal information, which, of course, the American authorities do. Are authorities looking into your crypto holdings as part of their tax investigation? I have not seen the full complaint or the charges against me but I assume they are also looking into my crypto activities. Have you been extradited to the U.S. yet? No. I have been detained in Barcelona, Spain at Brians 1 prison awaiting my extradition trial. Are there any other crypto-related updates around you at this time? None. I am concentrating fully on $GHOST. What are your thoughts on PayPal announcing it will add crypto to its platform in 2021? PayPal's acceptance of cryptocurrency signals, I believe, a new wave of cryptocurrency acceptance worldwide. Governments around the world will have to get used to cryptocurrencies. What type of work are you doing with $GHOST right now? Are you doing any of that work while detained? My work with $GHOST revolves entirely around our development of the world's first private stablecoin. Version one will be a wrapped DAI. Later we will have a new stable, private blockchain. Holders of $GHOST will share all transaction fee profits for the stablecoin. How has your view of crypto changed since 2017, if at all? Too many people are using crypto as a way to get rich quick rather than its original intent, which is for buying and selling transactions. We will see very soon a new movement into using cryptocurrencies as transactions rather than as get rich quick schemes. This is why I developed the private $GHOST stablecoin. What’s your opinion on the charges against you? Are they true? The Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that you made over $23.1 million in undisclosed compensation from recommending seven cryptocurrency offerings on Twitter that were materially false and misleading. Separately, the Justice Department said you failed to file any tax returns from 2014 to 2018. The SEC charges against me are totally false. Team McAfee was composed of dozens of people all over the world. Someone may have made $23 million dollars, it certainly was not me. In fact, when I asked for an accounting everything was gone. I tweeted about this many times for those of you who would like to check. As to the charges of failing to file tax returns, they're absolutely true. Every year I contacted the IRS and said "I will not be filing taxes, you know where I live if you want to come and collect something". They left me alone and by the way it was not since 2014. My last filing of taxes was 2010. So that is one error in their planning. Without going into any specifics that might compromise you, can you give a rough timeline since you left the US that led you to Spain? I left the US with my wife Janice in January of 2019, trying to stay one step ahead of the CIA and FBI who have been hounding me since my first presidential run under the Libertarian banner in 2016. We went to the Bahamas because they have no income taxes and therefore refusing to pay them is not a crime in that country and therefore I could not be extradited. But the long arm and bullying tactics of the FBI is impressive and we were alerted by friendly officials and moved on to Cuba. After two months in Cuba, Janice and I were called into a high official's office and told that the US unofficially demanded that we be turned over to the US. He answered, "we are disinclined to do so". Nevertheless, we were given 72 hours to leave Cuba. From Cuba to the Dominican Republic, where we were arrested allegedly for illegal weapons before we were even allowed to speak to customs to declare them, they said they were going to deport us to the US. A couple of decent lawyers prevented that at which point they asked us where we wanted to go. I said England, that's where they sent us. Going so far as to pay for our tickets. From England we went underground. That's all I will say on that matter. IAmMcAfee.com