Cheney releases tax returns, is prepared to forfeit stock options

Dick Cheney

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Revealing an annual income that exceeded $4 million last year, Republican Party vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney released his tax records Friday and said he was "fully prepared to forfeit" potentially lucrative stock options from the oil company he ran.

"In order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, I am fully prepared to forfeit any options that have not vested by the time I assume office," Cheney said in a statement, referring to the options he has with Halliburton Co., an oil-services giant based in Dallas.

Cheney said that if he is elected vice president, he will establish a blind trust and transfer assets to that trust "as necessary" before being sworn in on January 20, 2001. He reiterated his promise to take "whatever steps are necessary" to comply with government ethics rules.

Many Democrats have criticized Cheney's financial holdings -- especially in the oil industry -- saying they demonstrate his allegiance to corporate interests. They said his ties to oil mean the environment would suffer under a Republican administration, a charge the GOP campaign has rejected.

When Cheney retired in August from Halliburton as its chairman and CEO, company officials said that Cheney retained options on 1.16 million shares of Halliburton common stock. The potential value of that stock -- depending on the strength of the stock market -- runs into the millions.

According to a statement released by the Republican presidential campaign, Cheney's tax returns showed a steady rise in income from 1990 to 1999.

In 1990, Cheney and his wife Lynne reported an adjusted gross income of $225,196, paying $47,332 in federal taxes. At the time, Cheney was working for President Bush as defense secretary.

In 1993, when Cheney had returned to the private sector, the couple's income rose to $2 million. Cheney's federal taxes that year were $732,851. By 1999, Cheney paid $1.7 million in taxes on an adjusted gross income of $4.4 million.

During the 10 years covered by the tax returns, Cheney said he donated $209,832 to charity. Another $89,500 was declined in honoraria with the request that the money be donated to charity. And another $142,820 was donated from corporations on whose boards the Cheneys served.