Wash. Post gave front-page play to Clinton finances, ran brief reports on McCain and Giuliani inside

In a February 23 front-page Washington Post article, staff writers John Solomon and Matthew Mosk reported on "interviews and financial disclosure statements filed by" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and found that, because of her husband's speaking fees and book deals, "the Clintons -- who left the White House with an estimated $12 million in legal debts ... are worth an estimated $10 million to $50 million." The 39-paragraph article, which ran above the fold and was illustrated with maps, added that last year, "only about 20 percent" of his speeches "were for personal income." By contrast, recent articles about Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) financial disclosure statements and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's (R) lucrative speaking fees were buried on inside pages of the Post.

A four-paragraph article by Mosk about McCain's latest statement, received by the Federal Election Commission on January 30, ran on Page A6 on February 10. Moreover, while the February 23 article about Clinton revolved around her husband's income, the McCain article devoted just two sentences to his wife's wealth and briefly noted that most of McCain's reported net worth of about $15 million "stems from his wife, the millionaire daughter of an Arizona beer magnate."

A February 15 Post article about the speaking fees charged by Giuliani, also written by Solomon and Mosk, appeared on Page A8. As Media Matters for America has noted, Giuliani has traveled nationwide and around the world to deliver speeches, at least some of which touch on his experiences during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Giuliani reportedly charges $100,000 per speech, despite significant questions about his record on homeland security and public safety, including his performance before, during, and after the 9-11 attacks.

CBSNews.com picked up on the Post's report on Bill Clinton's speaking fees, asserting that Sen. Clinton's financial disclosure statements were filed "recently." The article did not define "recently" and failed to discuss McCain's more recent financial disclosure statements. Neither CBS nor CBSNews.com has noted McCain's financial disclosure. The Post story noted that its report was based on "Hillary Clinton's annual ethics report to Congress, which showed that her husband made more than $30 million from speeches from 2001 to 2005" and "interviews with speech organizers" because Clinton "does not have to disclose 2006 fees until mid-May." The secretary of the Senate received her most recent financial disclosure statement more than nine months ago.

From the February 23 Post article:

Indeed, the Clintons -- who left the White House with an estimated $12 million in legal debts rung up during the Whitewater, campaign fundraising and Monica S. Lewinsky investigations -- are worth an estimated $10 million to $50 million, according to Hillary Clinton's most recent disclosure form. That is attributable primarily to the speaking fees and to the seven-figure book deals that both Clintons signed shortly after leaving the White House.

The fortune they have amassed gives the Clintons a nest egg for the first time, and it allows them to tap into that wealth for a campaign if Hillary Clinton, as expected, forgoes public financing in her race for president. It also suggests a sometimes close connection between their personal finances and her political career.

[...]

The nearly $40 million total is based on Hillary Clinton's annual ethics report to Congress, which showed that her husband made more than $30 million from speeches from 2001 to 2005. Under Senate ethics rules, she does not have to disclose 2006 fees until mid-May, and the estimate for that year's totals is based on interviews with speech organizers, who confirmed an additional $9 million to $10 million in fees.

Beyond the millions he has earned personally, the former president has given dozens more speeches that result in payments to the William J. Clinton Foundation, his nonprofit charity in New York. His associates say those have yielded millions to help cover the $60 million annual budget the foundation spends to fund his charitable work on AIDS and world hunger.

The February 10 Post article:

Some land owned by Republican presidential candidate John McCain slipped in value last year, but the senator from Arizona remains a wealthy man, largely because of investments and holdings controlled by his wife, Cindy, his latest financial disclosure report showed.

All presidential candidates must file an up-to-date accounting of their finances with the Federal Election Commission. McCain released his forms late yesterday, and they show that little has changed since his last disclosure, issued in May. The forms allow him to report the value of holdings within broad ranges, making his net worth difficult to calculate with confidence. Previous reports have put it at roughly $15 million.

Most of that money stems from his wife, the millionaire daughter of an Arizona beer magnate. One tract of land McCain owns in Sedona, Ariz., was worth between $500,000 and $1 million in May, but now is listed as being worth between $100,001 and $250,000, the report showed. A McCain spokesman could not be reached last night to explain the disparity.

McCain also listed as income a 2006 deal to write a nonfiction book that is timed for release late this year. The book, whose working title is "Hard Call," is to explore "historically significant decisions" and the qualities that distinguished successful decisions from failures.