AUSTIN On Day 16 of refusing to release his income tax returns Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White critics claim has been caught lying to the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC). A trial lawyer White appears to have failed to report more than $83000 in income from a real estate partnership to the TEC according to his 2009 income tax return and disclosure documents he filed with the Texas Ethics Commission February 16 2010.
This is no little White lie" said Republican Party of Texas Chairman Cathie Adams.
This is a failure to comply with the very laws that White is campaigning to uphold as the states chief executive officer. The people of Texas deserve more transparency from Bill White and they deserve leaders who will comply with the law" Adams said.
Whites spokesman Katy Bacon has confirmed that White received the income as reported on his 2009 income tax return. But there is no mention of this income anywhere on Whites filing with the Texas Ethics Commission.
That real estate partnership in question Wedge Group is already at the center of a controversy stemming from Whites tenure as mayor of Houston.
For years White has claimed that he received no income from Wedge Group while he was mayor of Houston but his 2009 income tax return the only income tax return he has released so far shows $83677 in income from Wedge during 2009 alone.
Whites tenure began in January 2004 and ended in January 2010.
To date White has only released his 2009 income tax return and only after mounting pressure on him to do so. Republican party officials and the Perry Campaign itself have been pressing White for weeks saying
it is long past time for Bill White to match Gov. Rick Perry and disclose all of his income tax returns so that Texans might learn what other undisclosed payments may be hidden within them.
The Wedge Group payment marks the 2nd hidden compensation White has received while mayor of Houston.
The Houston Chronicle has also reported that White earned more than $2.6 million while serving on the board of BJ Services a company currently under Congressional investigation for possible groundwater pollution.
The Texas Ethics Commission received the complaint March 23 2010. White has 10 days to respond to it.
