Clinton Camp Breaks Tax Return Promise-Update

Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama released his 2000-2006 tax returns last month, and called on the Clinton campaign to follow suit. During a conference call on Thursday, March 27, the campaign promised the returns in short order:

Question: Scanning and posting tax returns is a fairly simple process. Why is there any delay, at all, in making her returns available?

Clinton Campaign: You know, why was there delay in Senator Obama's making his returns available when we asked for them, despite the fact that he was asking for them on a daily basis?

You know, we'll have them within the week. You'll have the opportunity to look at them. You can turn a skeptical eye to them, as you may care to. And if you have follow-up questions about them, we'll be happy to answer them. But they will be available online, as other tax returns of the Clintons' have been available online for some time. And people will be able to take a look at them.

That was last Thursday. Obviously, it's too late to get a comment from the campaign about the missed deadline, but I have an email out to them, so check back. I will update you here. After the jump, super-brief analysis of this issue.

Update: Clinton Tax Returns info at the end of the article.

First of all, the transcript doesn't identify the speaker, but as I recall, it was Howard Wolfson. He (or perhaps it was Phil Singer) sounded more than a little irked at the question, deflecting to Obama initially. This is something of a pattern with the Clinton strategists, a sense of annoyance at any question that might contradict their narrative. It's a bad PR move, in my mind. The guy had a good point, why does it take so long to scan some tax returns?

There's also a contemptuousness in the answer toward anyone who would wish to examine the returns. Again, they're being defensive in the wrong place. College boys asking Chelsea about her Dad's sex life is intrusive, this is not.

For a candidate making a lot of (legitimate) claims on the Presidency for being an effective administrator, they're really making her look bad.

Update: The following is a statement released by the Clinton Campaign this afternoon regarding release of the tax returns. There was no explanation for the added delay.

Statement of Jay Carson, Clinton Campaign Spokesman:

Today Senator Hillary Clinton and President Bill Clinton are releasing their tax returns for the years 2000 through 2006, and are providing information regarding their 2007 taxes as well.

The Clintons have now made public thirty years of tax returns, a record matched by few people in public service. None of Hillary Clinton's presidential opponents have revealed anything close to this amount of personal financial information.

What the Clintons' tax returns show is that they paid more than $33,000,000 in federal taxes and donated more than $10,000,000 to charities over the past eight years. They paid taxes and made charitable contributions at a higher rate than taxpayers at their income level.

2000 - 2007 TAX RETURN SUMMARY

HILLARY & BILL CLINTON

TAXES PAID: $33,783,507

The Clintons paid $33,783,507 in federal taxes – 31% of their adjusted gross income. According to the most recent data available from the IRS, in 2005 taxpayers earning $10,000,000 or more paid on average 20.8% of their adjusted gross income in taxes.

CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS: $10,256,741

The Clintons donated $10,256,741 to charity – 9.5% of their adjusted gross income. According to the most recent data available from the IRS, in 2005 taxpayers earning $10,000,000 or more contributed 3.1% of their adjusted gross income in cash contributions to charity. Information about the Clinton Family Foundation, including a list of charities to which the Clintons contributed through the Foundation, is available online in the Foundation's publicly available tax returns (www.foundationcenter.org).

AFTER TAX EARNINGS: $57,157,297

CUMULATIVE TOTAL(GROSS) INCOME: $109,175,175

Including, among other items:

Senator Clinton's Senate Salary: $1,051,606

President Clinton's Presidential Pension: $1,217,250

Senator Clinton's Book Income: $10,457,083

President Clinton's Book Income: $29,580,525

President Clinton's Speech Income: $51,855,599

SENATOR CLINTON'S BOOK INCOME: $10,457,083

Senator Clinton's book income is comprised of earnings for Living History ($10,267,895), including an $8,000,000 advance, and It Takes a Village ($189,188). The earnings for It Takes a Village were donated to charity. Since the release of It Takes a Village in 1996, Senator Clinton has donated over $1,100,000 to charity.

PRESIDENT CLINTON'S BOOK INCOME: $29,580,525

President Clinton's book income is comprised of earnings for My Life ($23,280,525), including a $15,000,000 advance, and Giving ($6,300,000). The President donated $1,000,000 of his income from Giving in 2007 to charity.

PRESIDENT CLINTON'S SPEECH INCOME: $51,855,599

NOTE: The figures in this summary include 2007 estimates.

Annual tax information is available for download here:

www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/returns