Kerry releases papers
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON -- John Kerry's campaign this week released his Navy records and a partial list of his meetings with lobbyists since 1989, then demanded Thursday that the Bush campaign make public the names of lobbyists who privately helped Vice President Cheney develop administration energy policy.
Kerry's releases were designed to gain an advantage in the daily back-and-forth between the two campaigns over who's keeping secrets. But the Democratic presidential candidate faces a challenge in the refusal of his wife, heiress and philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry, to release her tax returns. Some Republicans, government watchdog groups and journalists say she should.
It is unusual for a federal officeholder to voluntarily disclose meetings with lobbyists, which are routine but sensitive because they fuel perceptions that special interests get special access. Kerry's list appears to be a sampling of such contacts, which can include meetings, phone calls and informal encounters on Capitol Hill.
The lobbyist disclosures came after Kerry, awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for his service in the Vietnam War, posted his Navy records on the Internet.
Kerry, a four-term Massachusetts senator, is on four committees: small business, commerce, finance and foreign relations. He is on subcommittees that oversee contentious, heavily regulated areas such as communications, pollution and international trade.
Kerry's list shows meetings with lobbyists for telecommunications and technology companies, defense contractors, banks, financial services, veterans, doctors, Israel and animal welfare. Bedrock Democratic causes such as gay rights, consumer and environmental protection and civil liberties were well represented. In 2002 and 2003, as Kerry prepared to run for president, the list was dominated by labor officials key to financing and turning out votes for Democrats.
The lobbyist disclosures came after Kerry, awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for his service in the Vietnam War, posted his Navy records on the Internet. The campaign plans to add his military medical records after they are reviewed.
Earlier this year, the Bush campaign released records of his 1970s National Guard service to clarify his attendance record. However, the documents were inconclusive.
The Supreme Court is scheduled on Tuesday to review a lower court ruling that requires Cheney to release the names of lobbyists he met with in formulating the administration's energy policy.
Democrats' attempts to use the secrecy issue against Bush could be undercut by Heinz Kerry's refusal to release her tax returns. "It's not just me, it's me and my sons, and a lot of things are family. And I don't have any right to expose them," she said Wednesday in an interview with USA TODAY.
Presidential candidates routinely release joint tax returns with their wives. But Heinz Kerry, heiress to an estimated $500 million from her marriage to the late Sen. John Heinz, files separately. She says 100 pages of disclosure forms she has filed as a Senate spouse detail "where I invest, what my guidelines are for it."
But those disclosures would not, for example, reveal how much she has given to charity or paid in taxes. Heinz Kerry said she would be willing to let an outside tax expert examine her returns to reassure voters. "If there's a way of determining that I've done right without making it public, I have no problem with that," she said.
Larry Noble of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics says that may be insufficient. "You are dealing with a public perception issue," he said. Bill Allison of the Center for Public Integrity said the argument that she's just the wife does not wash: "Half a disclosure is not full disclosure."
(Contributing: USA TODAY reporter Jim Drinkard) |
