WASHINGTON – Teresa Heinz Kerry earned more than $100,000 last year on her Flying Squirrel charter jet – which her husband’s presidential campaign used to the tune of nearly $300,000, financial documents show.
Personal financial disclosure papers filed by the Kerry campaign show that Heinz Kerry has invested more than $1 million in the Flying Squirrel jet charter.
Last year, she earned more than $100,000 in rental income, an increase over the $50,000-plus she earned in 2002.
The Kerry campaign has made more than 60 payments to her company for a total of $273,171, a review of campaign records found.
The campaign didn’t respond to requests for more information about the Flying Squirrel, other than to deny that it is a charter company.
The company’s assets reportedly includes a $35 million Gulfstream V jet with plasma TV, two bathrooms, gold-plated fixtures and mahogany paneling.
It’s not illegal for Heinz Kerry to rent out the plane to her husband’s campaign, as long as she’s charging a market rate, campaign legal experts say.
Charging less than the going airfare rate would be considered a gift from the ketchup heiress to the candidate, and she is limited by law to giving Kerry $2,000 in the race.
The financial documents also show Heinz Kerry has invested about $4 million in more than 20 oil- and gas-exploration companies, most of them based in Texas.
Heinz Kerry has rejected calls to release her tax returns, which would reveal more detailed information about her finances.