Robert Parry: Hillary Low-balled Bill's Pay in Forms

[babylonsister]

Hillary Low-balled Bill's Pay in Forms
by Robert Parry | April 6, 2008



In her disclosure forms for the U.S. Senate and her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton downplayed Bill Clinton’s income from two key financial backers, billionaire investor Ronald Burkle and consumer-data executive Vinod Gupta, when compared with the Clintons’ recently released tax filings.

Sen. Clinton’s earlier disclosure forms listed the former President’s compensation as “over $1,000” each from Burkle’s and Gupta’s firms – when the actual amounts ran into the hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars, according to the tax returns.

The Clintons received as much as $15 million from Burkle’s Yucaipa investment firm from 2003 through 2007, starting with $1 million a year in 2003, peaking at $5 million in 2005 and leveling off at more than $2.5 million the past two years, according to tax forms and other data released by the campaign on Friday.

In January 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bill Clinton also stands to make $20 million as he unwinds his complicated business relationship with Yucaipa, which has connections to the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

However, a voter would have gotten no inkling of the value of Bill Clinton’s dealings with Yucaipa from Sen. Clinton’s disclosure forms. Although she gave precise dollar amounts for Bill Clinton’s many paid speeches, his earnings from Yucaipa were listed simply as “guaranteed payment to partner, over $1,000.”

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http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/13885

[dkf]

1. Can you do that? Sounds like trouble to me.

[babylonsister]

2. She apparently did it, so I guess you can. nt

[Igel]

3. I read that was all that was required.

Can't find where I read it, however.

Struck me at the time as just filling out the forms: A "Did your partner received guaranteed payment of more than $1000 from any source(s), yes/no, and list them" sort of thing.

It didn't strike me as being sneaky. Just taking the form literally.