Hillary Failed To Disclose $24 Million of Bill's Income From China

Clinton disclosures didn't list $24 million of Bill's income
By Greg Gordon | McClatchy Newspapers

Posted on Monday, May 5, 2008

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Clinton excluded nearly $24 million of her husband's earnings from Senate financial statements from 2004 through 2006, capitalizing on rules that permit senators to limit disclosures of some of their spouses' income.

Her decision, while fully consistent with Senate rules and norms, delayed the release of financial information about former President Clinton's soaring income until the couple released their tax returns in early April, under pressure from Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama. By then, about 40 states had completed their Democratic primaries and caucuses, meaning that those voters didn't get a clear look at Bill Clinton's finances.

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The Clintons' tax returns show that Bill Clinton earned nearly $51 million from 2004 through 2006. His wife informed the Senate of about $27 million of it, consisting almost entirely of fees from his globe-trotting speaking tours, from which he has fetched as much as $400,000 for a single appearance.

Reporting rules for senators and presidential candidates allowed Hillary Clinton to describe the amounts of her husband's other income sources as ``over $1,000." These included his more than $10 million in advances and royalties from two book deals, as much as $11.5 million from offshore partnerships that invested in a Chinese media company and more than $2 million from a Nebraska firm whose chairman reportedly spent $900,000 flying the Clintons aboard corporate jets for personal, business and campaign trips.

The sketchy disclosures on Clinton's statements might help explain why many Americans were surprised to learn, upon release of the couple's tax returns and a summary of their 2007 income, that they earned $109 million over the last eight years after leaving the White House buried in debt in 2001.

Jay Carson, a spokesman for Clinton's presidential campaign, said that like Obama, Clinton ``reported all of her spouse's income in accordance with Senate ethics requirements, which are clearly spelled out.'' The rules require less information about spouses' income.

On at least three occasions in February, however, Clinton campaign officials reassured the public that her Senate disclosure forms offered a sufficient look into her finances.

"She has released, as part of the financial disclosure process as a senator, sources of her revenue every year she has been in office," Phil Singer, a campaign spokesman, told the Christian Science Monitor.

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THE DISCLOSURE GAP:

2004 — Hillary Clinton reported on her Senate financial statement that her husband earned about $9.5 million in 2004, plus unspecified income from his writings, consulting and a partnership with private equity fund chief Ronald Burkle. The Clintons' tax return showed that he made $17.98 million that year, including as much as $4 million from the offshore partnership with Burkle, the billionaire founder of the Los Angeles-based Yucaipa Companies LLC.

2005 — Clinton reported on her Senate statement that her husband earned about $7.5 million in 2005, plus unspecified income from his writing and consulting. The Clintons' tax returns showed that he earned $17.33 million that year, including more than $5 million from the Yucaipa partnership.

2006 — Clinton reported on her Senate financial statement that her husband earned about $10.1 million in 2006, plus more than $3,000 in unspecified writing and consulting income. The Clintons' tax returns showed that the former president earned $16.42 million in 2006, including $400,000 from INFOUSA, an Omaha-based company that sells marketing information. He also received $2.6 million, some of it in ``guaranteed payments,'' from the Cayman Islands-based Yucaipa partnership, which invested in Xinhua Finance Media Ltd., China's leading, government-controlled financial and entertainment media company.

Sources: Senate financial disclosure statements and Clinton tax returns
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/35929.html

Her behavior during the entire Primary season has been nothing short of exemplary.

That upstart Obama could learn a thing or two about dignity and integrity from Sen. Clinton, paragon that she is.

:kick:

you're talking real money.

But it's easy to see where a non-elite multi-millionaire could overlook a measly $24 million.

so I can understand how this sorta thing happens.

Now if I can just get HRC to lose the $24 million in my apartment ...

$133 million? OMG. :rofl: When Hillary throws around that label "elitist", she's an authority on it.

..which helped the Chinese government with propaganda during the recent Tibetan protests in Tibet and elsewhere.

... that a spouse's income be disclosed any more than whether it's over $1,000. While folks can rail and gnash their teeth about this, the FACT is that NO SENATOR is required to be more detailed in such reporting.

I'll let Clinton take the lumps she earns, but as Democrats we must reject lying assertions dressed up as facts...IE:"after leaving the White House buried in debt in 2001". The fact, of course, is that BILL Clinton left the US budget with a surplus and the current republican regime buried us in debt.This is the "BIG LIE" technique that republican strategist love and we should all of us reject it. And we should each of us write McClatchy and demand a retraction.I'll be composing mine shortly.

:sarcasm: It has been discovered that Senator Obama's 5th grade teacher's brother once knew a guy whose second cousing was a suspected member of the Communist party. You will be happy to know that the leading "news" agencies are investigating thos latest problem concerning the Obama campaign.:sarcasm:

SNARK