By Jim Popkin, NBC News
The McCain campaign released Cindy McCain's tax returns late Friday afternoon, and the numbers might make Joe the Plumber blush. The beer-company executive reported income last year of nearly $4.2 million, and more than $6 million in 2006.
The campaign released four pages of returns for 2006 and 2007--and none of the other forms and schedules that generally accompany complex tax returns--after 6pm EST. It's become a tired Washington ritual for politicians to deliver potentially embarassing news just before the weekend, when coverage typically slows. This campaign season, both the Obama and McCain campaigns have dumped documents on news organizations late on Fridays.
The tax returns show Cindy McCain paid taxes of $1.1 million last year. In 2006, the potential first lady paid $1.7 million in taxes.
In a press release, the McCain campaign said: "Mrs. McCain had received an extension to file her 2007 tax returns because she had not received all information necessary to complete the returns. Senator and Mrs. McCain have filed separate tax returns throughout their marriage, because Mrs. McCain is an owner of a family business. Sen. McCain's tax returns were made public earlier this year."
The campaign added: "This release of Mrs. McCain's tax return information supplements the existing extensive disclosure of the McCain family's financial information. For the last 28 years, since Sen. McCain first ran for Congress, all of the sources of Sen. and Mrs. McCain's income, and all of their assets, have been fully disclosed through publicly available financial disclosure forms filed with the United States Government. There is no new information on this tax return beyond the actual amount of Mrs. McCain's income and taxes paid, because all other details of her personal and family sources of income and assets are already public."
Cindy McCain is chair of Hensley & Co., founded by her father and one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributors in the United States.
In April, John McCain's campaign released his tax returns. Sen. McCain's taxable income was $258,800 last year. "In the past two years, Senator and Mrs. McCain have contributed $340,323 to charitable causes," the campaign said.
The campaign added at the time: "Senator and Mrs. McCain have kept their personal finances separate throughout their 27-year marriage. Accordingly, they have for many years filed separate tax returns. However, their home state of Arizona is a community property jurisdiction. In community property states, individuals maintain a separation of all property brought to the marriage, or inherited during it, but share financial responsibility for other assets..."
