Wednesday, February 17, 2010

What's Gilly hiding?

2:16 PM, February 17, 2010 ι MAGGIE HABERMAN

Harold Ford Jr. laced into Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand today, pivoting off a Post exclusive noting that the senator wasn't forthcoming with her own tax details in her 2006 congressional race -- highlighting her work as a lawyer for a tobacco firm.

In its harshest tones yet, Team Ford brands Gillibrand an "unelectable hypocrite," accuses her of "lies" with reporters over her tobacco-lawyer work and asks "what is she hiding?"

The move is an effort by Ford to reclaim the narrative -- and win some news cycles -- after a rough 10 days, much of which was spent with stories about his team's confusing explanations of a statement he made about filing taxes in New York for the first time this April. Aides later clarified that Ford, whose primary residence had been in Tennessee until recently, meant "as a resident" and said he'd complied with all laws.

Gillibrand spokesman Glen Caplin replied, “This is Ford's latest attempt to deflect attention away from the simple, straightforward questions about whether he dodged paying New York taxes on his Merrill Lynch bonus.

"Tennessee has no income tax. So evading New York taxes could have saved Ford and cost New York State and New York City more than $100,000 for 2007 and again in 2008. New Yorkers work hard, play by the rules and pay more than their fair share in taxes. Shouldn't Harold Ford do the same?"

He called the Ford release "false allegations."

The Gillibrand camp has seized on the tax issue, urging him to "come clean" -- with clear designs at hammering him over whether he received a Wall Street bonus working for Merrill Lynch the past two years, which he's refused to explain. But The Post noted today that Gillbrand herself refused to release her tax returns in her 2006 race against Rep. John Sweeney, who pushed the issue daily.

"Trying to distract voters with baseless accusations about Harold Ford Jr., who has always filed and paid New York taxes on all New York income, doesn’t change the truth: the unelected Senator has yet to disclose to New Yorkers whether she filed and paid taxes on income she earned as a high paid tobacco lawyer in New York City before she ran for Congress," Team Ford said in a statement.

"New Yorkers deserve the same answers from her that she is demanding from others."

But Team Gillibrand continued to hammer the bonus

1 comment:

  1. Whatever Gilli did, she was never paid a bonus out of out (taxpayer's) money. Ford won't even say if he received a bonus, let alone whether he paid taxes on it.

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