RNC chief urges Clinton to voluntarily pay the extra taxes she proposes


Hillary Clinton should voluntarily pony up the millions in extra taxes she'd owe under her own income tax proposal, said Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Reince Priebus on Monday in a letter to the Clintons' accountant.
"As a part of Mrs. Clinton’s tax policy proposals, she has called for an unprecedented new tax on Americans who earn more than $5 million annually," Priebus wrote, pointing out that Clinton herself is in the top 0.01 percent of income earners. So with "the Clintons’ tremendous income," Priebus continued, "I am calling upon them to fully embrace her new tax by applying the 'surcharge' to her family’s previous income since 2001 when her family income has been in excess of $10 million on average annually."
To make the process easier, Priebus provided a calculation of the $4.6 million more Clinton would owe on the $187 million in taxable income her family has reported since leaving the White House 15 years ago, including $9.4 million in 2001, the year Clinton infamously said she was "dead broke."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Quiz of The Week: 5 – 11 July
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
How many people are working illegally in the UK?
The Explainer Government vows 'nationwide blitz' on illicit workforce believed to number in the hundreds of thousands
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A devastating flood, a hungry manatee, and more
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska