Robertson Tax, Income Records Made Public

Former television evangelist Pat Robertson, whose financial affairs are falling under intense scrutiny, released personal records Thursday showing that he and his wife earned $334,853 in total income over the past two years and paid federal income taxes of $34,540.

Copies of federal joint income tax returns showed the Republican presidential hopeful and his wife, Dede, also made deductible charitable contributions of $137,412 over the two-year period. Most of that amount--a total of $103,809--went to the tax-exempt Christian Broadcasting Network that Robertson founded in 1960.

Meets Deadline

Robertson, who formally announced his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination Oct. 1, made the tax returns public within the 30-day filing period required of all declared candidates.

Before entering the presidential field, Robertson resigned as a Southern Baptist minister and severed his ties with the broadcast network. He long had hosted a popular CBN show known as “the 700 Club.”

Meanwhile, officials of his campaign organization, Americans for Robertson, denied any impropriety in the campaign’s sale of its main computer system last month for what appeared to be an inflated price. Questions about the sale had been raised Thursday by the Washington Post, which said the system was sold for at least $100,000 more than it cost to a shell company in Denver associated with a Robertson campaign aide.

The Post questioned whether the sale for $337,500 was designed to allow a corporation to make a large campaign contribution that otherwise is prohibited by law.

‘Sale of Hard Assets’

Constance Snapp, the campaign’s communications director, told reporters the transaction was “a very straight deal” that was disclosed to the Federal Election Commission. She said it was “a sale of hard assets” and was “not a method of fund raising.”

Other officials said the campaign was in the process of leasing back the system.

Snapp would not identify the buyers of the system other than to say the transaction was put together by Denver attorney Clarence A. Decker, one of Robertson’s regional campaign directors. Attempts to reach Decker for comment Thursday were unsuccessful.

The Robertson campaign listed the buyer as “Computer Futers Ltd.” that the Post said had Decker’s law firm address but was not incorporated in Colorado. Snapp said the sale was “at a fair price” but that $337,500 was only a down payment and the final price has not been determined.

To Include Other Assets

Snapp said the final selling price would include certain assets other than the computer system.

The dispute over the computer sale arises as the Internal Revenue Service is conducting a lengthy audit to determine if the Christian Broadcasting Network improperly funneled money to other tax-exempt organizations that did early groundwork for Robertson’s presidential bid.

CBN, which has federal tax-exempt status because of its religious activities, is prohibited from engaging in political activities.

Public records show that CBN provided as much as $8.5 million in grants and unpaid loans to two affiliated organizations, the Freedom Council and the National Freedom Institute, over the last three years. The council and the institute were formed to encourage Christians to become active in national politics and were largely responsible for boosting Robertson’s political fortunes.

Campaign officials claim, however, that the organizations never sought to promote Robertson as the only Christian evangelical candidate.

Staff writer Eric Lichtblau contributed to this story.