Chirelstein is one of four outside experts chosen by the White House to brief reporters on the Clintons’ 1977, 1978 and 1979 tax returns. The Clintons made $98,977-$26,541 in 1978 and $72,436 in 1979-by trading in commodity futures. The trades were made at the step-by-step direction of James Blair, a Clinton friend and an outside counsel for Tyson Foods. Chirelstein says that the Clintons piggybacked on Blair’s brokerage account.
Blair and the Clintons’ lawyer, David Kendall, have told The New York Times that Mrs. Clinton had her own brokerage account and that she assumed real financial risk in the deal. Chirelstein says he saw no evidence of hard risk. “There weren’t any checks,” he says. “This fellow Blair seems to have said, ‘You can have a fractional interest in my trading in these cattle futures. If I make money, you get a share. If I lose, you have to take your share of the loss’.”
Chirelstein said he knows of no contract that required Mrs. Clinton to repay such a loss, which means her “investment” could be considered by some to be a gift. Republicans are bound to wonder whether Blair. whose business interests were dependent on state government, would ever have demanded that a loss be covered.
Chirelstein also said that James McDougal, chairman of Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan and the Clintons’ partner in Whitewater Development Corp., assumed the Clintons’ share of Whitewater interest payments three years after they went in business together. As a result. the Clintons essentially paid no part of Whitewater costs from 1981 to 1990. Although documents released by the White House indicate the Clintons paid $7,826 in Whitewater interest and taxes between 1981 and 1990, Chirelstein says these payments covered the costs of a model home built on the Whitewater tract-a house the Clintons sold at a small profit.
The bottom line, in Chirelstein’s tally, is that Clinton is still overstating his Whitewater investment. Clinton has revised the figure downward, from $68,880 to $46,636. Chirelstein says the real total is no more than $38,809-and if he’s right, the Clintons had two sweetheart deals back to back.
Bill and Hillary Clinton’s tax returns for 1977,1978 and 1979 contain some clues about why they have been reluctant to make them available to the public. The returns show that the Clintons’ adjusted income rose sharply-from $41,731 to $158,495-during those years, and that much of it came from trading in cattle futures. Interest payments on Whitewater, a deduction, helped reduce their tax bill. Selected details:
1977 Earned income $42,106 Bill Clinton, Attorney General of Arkansas $25,378 Hillary Clinton, Rose Law Firm partner $14,800 Bill, speech fees $700 Hillary, speech fees $550 Interest income $518 Savings and retirement accounts Capital gains noneTotal deductions $6,488 Use of Hillary’s car $595 Books and magazines $135 Interest on Yale student loans $521 Interest paid on credit cards $244 Glasses $77 Interest paid on furniture $54 Total adjusted income $41,731Taxes paid $8,194 (19.6%)1978Earned income $58,683 Bill Clinton, Attorney General $26,500 Hillary Clinton, Rose Law Firm $24,250 Hillary, consulting $6,312 Bill, speech fees $740 Hillary, speech fees $350 Interest income $1,176Capital gains $28,049 Sale of five acres of land $3,036 Profit in cattle futures commodity trading aided by James Blair, a top lawyer for Tyson Foods. $26,541 Total deductions $20,995 Among many other deductions was interest on the Clinton’s share of the loan to buy the land to launch Whitewater Development Corp. $10,131 Total adjusted income $85,214Taxes paid $22,627 (26.6%) 1979 Earned income $84,059 Hillary Clinton, Rose Law Firm $38,615 Bill Clinton, Governor of Arkansas $30,100 Hillary, consulting $8,823 Hillary, speech fees $1,000 Hillary Clinton, Univ. of Ark. $889 Interest income $4,652Dividend income $1,928Capital gains $72,996 One of two cattle-futures accounts lost money while the other performed spectacularly. Total deductions $24,606 Bookshelves, sofa, desk taken as a business expense $664 Payment, Whitewater interest $11,752 Payment, James McDougal, Whitewater partner $238 Total adjusted income $158,495Taxes paid $59,388 (37.5%)
