The Right Note is a weekly opinion column published on Thursdays. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.
Terry McAuliffe finally released a summary of his 2012 tax returns. The release came on the heels of reports a company McAuliffe invested in was stealing the identities of the terminally ill.
McAuliffe claims he was a “passive investor in a life insurance annuity pool,” but the lawyer for the convicted Rhode Island estate planner Joseph Caramadre said investors knew he was exploiting a loophole to give investors a portion of the death benefit. If so, most of us would ask questions. Did you know what type of investment you had made? How and when did you become a passive investor in such a scheme? What type of people would you be connected to who would steer you to this type of shady investment?
The McAuliffe campaign did not release the sources of his $9.5 million income for 2012. So, valid questions remain about how much McAuliffe profited from the aforementioned identity theft scheme or from GreenTech Automotive. GreenTech, you may recall, is under investigation into whether it was a cash-for-visas scheme.
No one except Terry McAuliffe knows for sure how much he knew about alleged wrongdoing either situation. In GreenTech’s case, we know McAuliffe has portrayed himself as a hands on “jobs creator” — or what, in reality, turned out to be a “virtually no jobs” creator. If McAuliffe was actively involved in GreenTech as he claims, he must know a lot more than he is saying publicly.
Quite frankly, the McAuliffe campaign believes he is going to win on November 5th. And, if the polls are correct, the belief may be well-founded. So, he has clearly made a strategic decision to try and run out the clock on this storyline. But, these are serious questions about the business dealings of a man who wants to be our governor and who says he wants to create jobs.
Before election day, it would be nice to know what Terry McAuliffe did know and when did he know it? My advice: don’t hold your breath waiting for the answers.
Mark Kelly is a former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.