Jeb Bush to Release 33 Years Of Tax Returns

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will release 33 years of personal income tax returns, his campaign confirmed Tuesday.

The afternoon release comes on the final day of the fundraising quarter in which Bush is expected to have hauled in record sums of cash for any presidential candidate at this stage of the campaign. News of the tax return release was first reported by Fox News.

The 33-year release is a new record in American politics, highlighting Bush’s stated commitment to transparency, topping the record set in 1996 by then-Sen. Bob Dole, who released 30 years of returns, and George Romney, who released 12 years’ worth in 1968. In 2012, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney only released two years of returns, totaling hundreds of documents detailing complicated financial positions lingering from his time as a private equity executive. Sen. John McCain also released two years of returns in 2008.

Hillary Clinton released eight years of returns in 2008, but has yet to release her latest financial figures beyond the mandated filing of her assets with the Office of Government Ethics. Bush’s move adds pressure to Clinton, who is under fire, along with former President Bill Clinton, as being out-of-touch with average Americans for making tens of millions off speeches and books.

The release Tuesday will provide the first window into Bush’s finances in more than a decade. Bush made millions in Florida real estate and other ventures in the 1980s and early 1990s, before becoming governor in 1999. After leaving office eight years later, Bush joined several corporate boards as well as the failed investment bank Lehman Brothers and later Barclay’s. In recent years, Bush launched at least three private equity funds, including the $61 million BH Global Aviation fund created in 2014. Bush severed his official ties to all his business ventures as he prepared to run for president early this year.

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