Lazio Releases Tax Returns

ByABC News
August 28, 2000, 6:53 PM

N E W  Y O R K, Aug. 28 -- After months of questions from reporters and weeks of harassment from Democrats, Rep. Rick Lazio released his tax returns to public Thursday.

Shortly after he entered the race against first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for New Yorks soon-to-be-open seat in the U.S. Senate, Lazio promised to release the returns by the end of August. Yet, his campaign took more than two months to compile all of his federal and state returns from 1990 to date.

Richard Zimmerman, a partner with the accounting firm of Cornick, Garber and Sandler in New York, reviewed the returns for ABCNEWS and found very little information in the documents that raised any questions.

This exercise is wholly unremarkable, said Zimmerman. These are not the Corleone family tax returns.

Stunt Man

The New York Democratic Party has been demonstrating against Lazio all month, sending a man dressed up like Uncle Sam Tax Man who has been shouting at the congressman, We want your taxes!

The Lazio campaign refused to change its timetable for releasing the tax returns, even as Tax Man helped earn the Republican candidate some negative media coverage.

Much of the material contained in the returns, filed jointly by Lazio and his wife Patricia, had already been made public in Lazios congressional financial disclosure forms. But the returns provide a more detailed glimpse of the congressmans finances.

The bulk of his family income stems from his salary in the House of Representatives, but the family has generated other revenue sources a rental property on Fire Island in New York and returns on commodities investments. While Lazio has made a number of very successful stock trades, his overall returns are quite modest, averaging a little more than $3,200 per year since 1990.

Lazios biggest gains more than $13,000 came from options he traded in Quick and Reilly, the investment group. The Securities and Exchange Commission scrutinized those profits after the media and Congressman Lazios opponents raised questions in June. Last week, the SEC concluded its investigation, having found nothing improper.