On Tuesday, the presidential candidates were required to file their annual personal financial disclosure statements with the Federal Election Commission. Politcal Money Line has been collecting them as they've been released, and you can find them right here.
Currently available are the reports for Biden, Dodd, Edwards, Giuliani, Gravel, Huckabee, Hunter, Obama, Paul, Richardson and Tancredo. Obtaining extensions were Clinton, Gilmore, Romney, McCain and T Thompson, and their reports will instead be due in the next month or two.
Here's some highlights via the Washington Post:
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) wrote his way to millionaire status with a best-selling memoir. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) raked in $11 million by trotting the globe giving speeches last year.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) married money -- his wife is the millionaire daughter of an Arizona beer magnate. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) became the richest of the 2008 candidates for the White House by dealing in private equity funds that have bought and sold significant interests in more than 180 companies.
And John Edwards, a trial lawyer who earned his initial fortune by defending the ill and injured in the courtroom, made $479,000 last year in salary and held than $7.5 million in investments with Fortress Investment Group, a New York hedge fund. ...
Other candidates reporting their net worths as of the end of 2006: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), between $3.5 million and $10.1 million; Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), $3.3 million to $8.7 million; Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), $1.5 million to $3.5 million; Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), $1 million to $2.4 million; Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), $545,000 to $1.2 million; Obama, $500,000 to $1.1 million; former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee (R), $350,000 to $900,000; and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), $62,000 to $428,000.
These reports come with two caveats:
- They're paper forms that have been scanned in, and are not always the clearest things to read
- Hard numbers are often available only for things like salaries and payments received. Investments and other assets are generally classified in ranges of value, both in terms of assessed value and current income received.
For the sleuths among us, there's plenty to explore -- are any of the candidates investing in, let's just say, "undesirable" companies? Poke around and tell us what you find.
If nothing else, folks, flip to pp 23-25 of the Giuliani report and see just how many companies and groups paid him $100K-$200K for speaking engagements. It's a long list.