Swann releases income data; made $1,067,143
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Lynn Swann, the Republican candidate for governor, made $1,067,143 last year, from his ABC broadcast job, speaking fees and compensation for service on corporate boards.
Mr. Swann released information from his 2005 income tax returns yesterday. The data showed his income totals but did not break down exactly how much of it came from his former broadcasting job with ABC and how much came from speaking engagements for which he normally charged in the neighborhood of $30,000. The Swann campaign also declined to specify which groups had paid speaking fees to the former Pro Bowl wide receiver.
A spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell, Swann's November opponent, found fault with the Republican's disclosure.
"You really don't know what the source of his income is, because he won't disclose which special interests were paying him," said Dan Fee, the Democrat's campaign press secretary, who noted that Mr. Rendell, a former Philadelphia mayor and district attorney, had released 35 years worth of tax returns, including the 2005 document that showed that he had his wife, U.S. Circuit Court Judge Marjorie Rendell, had combined income last year of $618,560.
Lenny Alcivar, Mr. Swann's communication's director, said the campaign would not release any further information and declined a request to supply the name of groups that had paid to hear Mr. Swann on the lecture circuit.
He shrugged off the Rendell campaign's criticisms.
"That's a laughable assertion made by the same candidate who didn't disclose his tax returns when he was running for governor," he said.
The copies of Mr. Swann's returns showed that he had received roughly $558,964 last year from speaking fees and his position as a commentator for ABC television. He received another $495,000 from his corporate directorships, the bulk of that from the exercise of an option to take just over $400,000 in deferred compensation from his role at the H.J. Heinz Co.
Mr. Alcivar said Mr. Swann had decided to take that compensation last year, "for personal reasons, in part in preparation to enter this race."
Swann also received $51,728 for sitting on the boards of Wyndham International and $37,500 for the same role at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts.
The returns showed that Mr. Swann and his wife, Charena, a psychologist, listed charitable gifts of $6,600. The Rendell's contributed substantially more -- $49,869 -- from their somewhat smaller income.
First Published May 4, 2006 12:00 am
