Cindy McCain Sells Sudan Investments; Renews Tax Return Debate

Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report at 8:25 AM on May 15, 2008.

Given the mystery surrounding John McCain’s wife’s finances, stories like these are not going to help matters.

Cindy McCain, the wife of the Republican presumptive nominee for president, has sold off at least $2 million she held in funds with investments in Sudan businesses.

The mutual funds — American Funds Europacific Growth and American Funds Capital World Growth and Income — have investments in companies with business in Sudan, according to the Sudan Divestment Task Force, an advocacy organization that has been working to persuade states, universities and other organizations to divest.

“As soon as she was made aware, she sold it,” said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign. “Senator and Mrs. McCain are committed to doing everything possible to end the genocide in Darfur.”

Both funds were listed by her husband, Senator John McCain, on his financial disclosure forms. The investments and the divestiture were first reported by The Associated Press, and confirmed by the McCain campaign.

This issue came up briefly a year ago, when four presidential candidates — Sam Brownback, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, and Barack Obama — learned of their Sudan-related holdings and quickly divested themselves. For John McCain, who seems to have very few assets of his own, this didn’t come up until now.

In light of Cindy McCain’s rather indignant remarks last week about keeping her finances private, these $2 million dollars in Sudanese investments just won’t do.

Here’s a WaPo editorial on the subject published yesterday:

“It won’t do.” That was our bottom line in 1984 when Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York, Democratic vice presidential candidate, balked at releasing her husband’s income tax returns. Ms. Ferraro ultimately relented. It was our bottom line four years ago, when Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of the Democratic nominee, refused to release her returns; Ms. Kerry relented as well. And it is just as apt now with regard to Cindy McCain’s tax returns.

For a candidate who puts a premium on transparency and ethics, John McCain has been slow and grudging in releasing tax information. He did not commit to doing so until after he had secured the nomination, and then he disclosed only two years of taxes, far less than his Democratic rivals. Mr. McCain’s wife, the heir to a liquor and beer distributorship, declined to release her returns, citing — as Ms. Heinz Kerry did — her children’s privacy. Releasing tax information entails intrusion, but, as we wrote four years ago, presidential candidates and their spouses “relinquish a significant measure of privacy. Meanwhile, tax returns provide information not contained in financial disclosure forms, such as charitable contributions and the use of tax shelters.” For Mrs. McCain to say, as she did on NBC’s “Today” show this week, that she would never release her tax returns, not even if she were to become first lady, is unacceptable. “This is a privacy issue,” she said. “My husband is the candidate.”

The candidate should get his wife to reconsider. The last thing the country needs in a new president is more secrecy.

And this was before the revelations about the Sudanese investments.

This story isn’t going away.

Tagged as: genocide, darfur, sudan, cindy mccain, tax returns