Betty Wright Says She Earned $18,000 Salary

House Speaker Jim Wright’s wife said Thursday that she is worth more than the $18,000 she was paid by an investment company.

“I think I earned every penny,” Betty Wright told the New York Times in an interview in her husband’s office in the House of Representatives. The interview was published in today’s editions.

Mrs. Wright was defending herself and her husband against charges by the House Ethics Committee that she was paid for work she did not do for the investment firm, Mallightco Inc.

The 64-year-old Mrs. Wright, along with her husband, formed the company with friends from Ft. Worth, George A. Mallick Jr. and his wife, Marlene.

“There was no time clock, and we were not keeping records,” she said of the small firm. “It was just the four of us. We all trusted each other.”

She said it was just part of the business arrangement if Mallick gave her the use of a condominium in Ft. Worth or use of a Cadillac.

“I think it is unfair to criticize it because that is the way George Mallick did business. That is the way he operated. Other employees had condos and cars, he had a fleet of cars. I certainly don’t think he was funneling anything to me. It was just part of the employment,” she said.

She said she has been unfairly portrayed as a domineering, scheming wife who liked to spend money on expensive things and coaxed her husband into politically risky financial ventures.

“Oh, well, they are making me a Nancy Reagan,” she said. “I felt sorry for her when they did it to her. I don’t know why they ever started on me.”

She called the charges against her and her husband “unfair” and “political.”

In an interview with the Washington Post, also published in today’s editions, Mrs. Wright said she didn’t keep any records about the work she did for the company.