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Rick Scott blind trust is given sight

Governor Rick Scott filed for reelection today and along the way dropped off 188 pages of tax returns. In addition, Scott revoked his blind trust long for folks to take a peek and then immediately started a new blind trust of his assests.

Below is an email from his campaign followed by addtional information supplied by the governor's campaign.

Governor Scott Provides Full Public Transparency in Qualifying Process & Release of Joint Tax Returns

Governor Scott Calls on Charlie Crist to Release 2011 & 2012 Joint Taxes 

TALLAHASSEE – Governor Rick Scott today made a sweeping disclosure of his personal finances as he completed the qualifying process as a candidate for reelection, going well beyond the requirements of Florida transparency laws.

The Governor qualified for reelection with the Secretary of State and also filed his financial assets in a personal financial disclosure with the Florida Commission on Ethics to provide the public full transparency. The Governor then immediately placed his assets back into a blind trust. The use of a blind trust avoids even the appearance of a conflict of interest for an elected official, protects the people of Florida from  an elected official making decisions based on  personal finances, and is recommended by the Florida Commission on Ethics for this reason. In fact, Charlie Crist’s grand jury on ethics reform recommended blind trusts be used by Governors, Lieutenant Governors and Cabinet officials in 2010.

Governor Scott also released his joint tax returns with First Lady Ann Scott for 2010, 2011, and 2012. Governor Scott previously released joint tax returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009 when he ran for office in 2010, even though that release was not required by law. Today’s additional voluntary release of his and the First Lady’s tax returns for 2010, 2011 and 2012 means six years of their tax returns have been made public. He also previously reported a list of his financial assets to the Florida Commission on Ethics when he qualified in 2010. Most Floridians would be surprised to know that Governor Scott refuses to collect a paycheck from the state of Florida.

Governor Scott said, “For the purposes of qualifying as a candidate for reelection, I have disclosed my financial assets today. However, before that and immediately after filing, these assets were under the management of an independent financial professional in a blind trust in order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.

“In order to provide even more transparency to the public, my wife Ann and I also voluntarily released the last three years of our tax returns. I hope that Charlie Crist will follow our lead and take the same steps today by releasing his and his spouse’s tax returns. His immediate public production of these tax returns for 2011 and 2012 is important to provide the people of Florida the transparency they deserve.”  

 POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT PAID FOR AND APPROVED BY RICK SCOTT, REPUBLICAN, FOR GOVERNOR.

 

Background on 2014 Qualifying Documents

RICK SCOTT FOR FLORIDA

JUNE 16, 2014 
 2014 QUALIFYING DOCUMENTS

For the purposes of qualifying as a candidate for election in 2014, Governor Scott filed three items with the Division of Elections today: Form DS-DE 24—Candidate Oath – Candidate with Party Affiliation; CE Form 6—Full and Public Disclosure of Financial Interest; Properly executed campaign check in the amount of $7,816.38.

NEW BLIND TRUST AND FINANCIAL ASSETS FOR 2014

Out of an abundance of caution and to ensure full and complete transparency with the public, the Governor opened the blind trust he formed in 2011 for the sole purpose of providing transparency and publicly listing his assets on his CE Form 6 financial disclosure today. This blind trust was established to protect the people of Florida from having an elected official make decisions in his or her own self-interest. The trust ensures that the Governor has no knowledge or control over his assets while governing and avoids even the appearance of any conflict of interest. In fact, Charlie Crist’s grand jury on ethics reform recommended blind trusts be used by Governors, Lieutenant Governors and Cabinet officials in 2010.

Following his signature of the CE Form 6 today, the Governor then immediately placed his assets back into a blind trust. The documentation of the new blind trust was filed today with the Florida Commission on Ethics at the same time as the CE Form 6, which reflected the assets of the blind trust as of December 31, 2013, for purposes of qualifying.

JOINT TAX RETURNS FOR 2010, 2011 AND 2012

When the Governor ran for office in 2010, he publicly released his income tax returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009. Included in today’s release are subsequent income tax returns for 2010, 2011 and 2012. Unlike the CE Form 6, the attached tax documents include joint tax filings for Governor Scott and First Lady Ann Scott. Given this distinction, the income amounts will differ from the corresponding CE Form 6 disclosures on file with the Commission on Ethics. Further, the CE Form 6 for 2013 is included in today’s filing, but the tax documents provided are available through 2012. A filing extension has been requested for 2013 in order to obtain required third party information, so no returns for that year are available for release at this time. A summary of adjusted gross income amounts, taxes paid, and taxes as a percentage of adjusted gross income for 2010, 2011 and 2012 is provided below.

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CLICK HERE for Governor Scott’s Transmittal letter to the Florida Commission on Ethics

CLICK HERE for Governor Rick Scott and First Lady Ann Scott’s Tax Returns

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