Rauner: Pritzker 'Worst Investor On The Planet'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Gov. Bruce Rauner accused Democratic candidate J.B. Pritzker of dodging taxes.
At a Tuesday morning press conference, Rauner sited reports about Pritzker family trusts and offshore investments. He also suggested that questions should be asked about how much money Pritzker has, versus how much he reportedly earned last year.
"The candidate Pritzker inherited over $3 billion and he and his family has chosen, on a massive scale, to hide hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in accounts outside the U.S.," Rauner said.
"You have to be one of the worst investors on the planet to only generate $16 million of income on $3 billion of assets. How do you do that? By hiding from taxes and tax avoidance. That's how you do that," Rauner said, adding that Illinoisans deserve to know the truth.
A Pritzker campaign spokesperson said Rauner's accusations are false. "He is lying about J.B. Pritzker. J.B. and trusts benefiting him have paid a combined $25 million in state taxes and $136 million in federal taxes over the last three years."
The spokesperson added the Pritzker family did establish some trusts generations ago, but that Pritzker did not set them up and has never received personal disbursements from them.
For his part, Rauner acknowledged what he called "small offshore investments," but says they're in a blind trust. "I don't even control it -- I don't even have a voice in that. I've moved everything out so that I don't have conflicts."
Pritzker campaign manager Anne Caprara released a statement following Rauner's attack, saying, "In response to the Worst Republican Governor in America's comments at this morning's press conference, we're not going to get in the way of the Bruce Rauner implosion tour."
Her dig comes after National Review, a conservative magazine focusing on news and commentary pieces, recently called Rauner the worst Republican governor in America.
