Rochester News D&C

Hillary Clinton reveals assets

By John Machacek, Democrat and Chronicle

WASHINGTON (Wednesday, May 16, 2001) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, disclosing her personal wealth for the first time as a lawmaker, reported holdings yesterday of between $650,000 and $1.35 million in a government-approved blind trust. But her outstanding legal fees going back to the days of the Whitewater investigations total between $2.5 million and $10.6 million, according to a report she filed with the Senate.

The blind trust -- in which assets are not revealed to the owner -- was approved by the executive branch's Office of Government Ethics and, according to Clinton aides, began when she was first lady and covers both her and the former president. It accounted for the bulk of Clinton's assets. Overall, she reported assets of between $701,000 and $1.75 million that included stock in Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic), BellSouth, AT&T and Lucent Technologies.

Financial disclosure reports that members of Congress were required to file by midnight yesterday allow lawmakers to report their net worth in ranges, such as $1,001 to $15,000 or $500,000 to $1 million.

Clinton did not report the $8 million advance for her book made late in 2000, but, according to Clinton aides, not formally signed until Jan. 2.

The Senate Ethics Committee approved her agreement with Simon and Schuster in mid-February. She did not have to obtain the committee's approval but did so to deal with questions that had been raised about the matter.

Clinton donated to charities all the $8,534 in royalties received last year from an earlier book It Takes a Village.

-- Anonymous, May 16, 2001