Donald Trump’s Republican presidential campaign, widely criticized for refusing to release the candidate’s tax returns, released 10 years of returns on Friday for vice presidential nominee Mike Pence. The same can no longer be said of his running mate, Mike Pence.
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Trump has refused to release his taxes citing legal advice over his pending multi-year audit, prompting frequent criticism from his opponent Hillary Clinton, who has released her family’s tax returns for much of the last three decades while she and Bill Clinton have served in government.
Pence and his wife, Karen, reported adjusted gross income over the 10 years ranging from about $113,000 last year to over $187,000 in 2009, while the effective state and federal tax rate ranged from a low of just over 10 percent in 2013 to a high of 16.5 percent in 2014, the figures show.
His income topped out at $187,000 while he was still a member of Congress, but dropped to $113,000 past year.
A prepared release from the Trump-Pence campaign also notes that the Pences have been donating ten percent of their take-home pay to charity.
Spokesman Marc Lotter says the returns demonstrate Pence has not enriched himself during his years of public service.
“Trump has continued to hide behind fake excuses to avoid coming clean with the American people, thumbing his nose at a basic level of transparency practiced by every major party nominee since 1976”.
Trump has said he will release his tax returns once they are done being audited.
Hillary Clinton released her 2015 tax returns last month. Her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine, released 10 years of his tax returns in August.
“We’re pleased to see that one member of the Trump ticket has chose to meet the long-held threshold for disclosure in a modern-day presidential campaign”, Christina Reynolds, the Clinton campaign’s deputy communications director, told the Associated Press.
“But it’s Donald Trump… running to be our next president”. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission.
The Hillary Clinton speculates he may not be worth the $10 billion he claims.
Mr. Pence’s tax returns show some evidence of financial strains.
Since joining the ticket, Pence has made jokes about his own net worth – especially when compared to Trump.
The Center for Responsive Politics’ OpenSecrets.org estimated Pence’s worth in 2012 – his previous year in Congress – at approximately $364,000.
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“I always tell people – I mean, but for a whole lot of zeroes, he and I have an bad lot in common”, Pence said this week, referring to Trump.
