US presidential candidate divestes of companies working in Sudan
May 15, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback, an outspoken critic of the violence in Sudan, divested his stock portfolio of companies that do business with the African nation.
Brownback listed sales of nearly two dozen investments, several of which were mutual funds whose holdings include companies active in Sudan, according to a financial disclosure report he filed Tuesday. Among them was a mutual fund in the name of Brownback’s wife valued at between $50,000 and $100,000. Other Sudan-related investments were in the names of the couples’ children.
“Most of the movement of mutual funds in the portfolio was at the direction of the family to divest of Sudan-related investments,” Brownback spokesman Brian Hart said.
Brownback also listed a blind trust held jointly with his wife that is valued between $1 million and $5 million. Last year, Brownback aides said he would seek legal advice on whether he could request that any Sudan-related investments be sold, but under the rules of the trust Brownback cannot be made aware of any transactions.
Brownback was the first presidential candidate to make his financial report public Tuesday as he filed it with the Federal Election Commission.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Republican Tommy Thompson joined three other presidential candidates in obtaining extensions to file their personal financial disclosure reports.
The reports identify the assets, liabilities and sources of income of the candidates and their spouses. Other candidates filed their reports with the FEC by Tuesday’s deadline. The FEC will make them public within days.
Clinton and former President Clinton are millionaires, according to past disclosure forms. In 2005, the former president made nearly $7.5 million in speaking fees. The couple had a blind trust valued at between $5 million and $25 million and a Citibank account of similar size.
Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said the senator requested the extension “to ensure we provide a complete disclosure form.” The presidential candidate disclosures require more detailed reporting than Senate financial forms. For instance, Clinton would have to report all the former president’s speeches up to the date of filing.
The others who received 45-day extensions are Republicans, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. McCain had filed a disclosure report earlier this year, but the FEC and the Office of Government Ethics concluded that he needed to file anew.
McCain requested the extension, in part, because the ethics office said he needed to disclose holdings in a blind trust in the name of McCain’s wife, Cindy. The trust has assets between $500,000 and $1 million.
Brownback also reported a $15,000 advance for a book, “From Power to Purpose: A Remarkable Journey of Faith and Compassion,” which tells of his Kansas upbringing and how it shaped his softer-edged brand of conservatism.
The advance and other proceeds will go to a Kansas-based adoption fund started by Brownback and his wife, Mary, to help people without the means pay for adopting children. The Brownbacks adopted their daughter Jenna from China and their son Mark from Guatemala in 1998.
In addition to filing financial disclosures, another common practice in presidential campaigns is the release of income tax returns. But so far this year, only Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has released his 2006 tax returns. He and his wife Michelle reported total income of $991,000, with more than half from Obama’s two books, a memoir and his political treatise, “The Audacity of Hope.” Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., announced Tuesday that he, too, would release his tax returns.
While the disclosure reports reveal the identity of income sources and of the assets held by candidates and their spouses, they only provide a range of the amount of the holding. That makes it difficult to determine a candidate’s net worth.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Democrat John Edwards declined to reveal the amount of money he made working for Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fund that Edwards said he joined to better understand the relationship between wealth and poverty. Edwards said his financial disclosure would show how much he earned, but only Edwards’ tax return would specify the exact amount. The disclosure would only list his income as a range, $250,000-$500,000 or $500,000-$1 million, for instance.
Republican Rudy Giuliani released his tax returns while he was mayor of New York. Since then, however, he has been involved in a series of private consulting ventures.
Romney, who founded the investment company Bain Capital, has total assets estimated at between $190 million and $250 million.
(AP)