Capitol Briefing - Disclosures: Kennedy's $2 Million Book Deal, Kohl's $5 Million Windfall, and Other Tidbits

Capitol Briefing - Disclosures: Kennedy's $2 Million Book Deal, Kohl's $5 Million Windfall, and Other Tidbits

Membership has its privileges, and nowhere is that more evident than in the U.S. Senate, the world's greatest deliberative body. There, even during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, senators found ways to cash in last year. Inside Washington Post headquarters, on 15th Street NW, more than half a dozen of us are digging through the personal financial disclosure forms for senators, which were released today and cover 2008.



Here are just a few of the interesting nuggets uncovered so far:

• Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is battling brain cancer, signed a book deal in February 2008 with Grand Central Publishing. It's the first ever autobiography that the patriarch of the Kennedy dynasty has ever written -- and he received a $1,995,833 advance for the deal last year.

• Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), head of the family department stores in his name, reported that a qualified blind trust his family has held since 1989 generated income of more than $5 million last year.

• Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Finance Committee, is a known BlackBerry maven, frequently seen walking the Capitol hallways tapping out messages. However, Baucus decided to cash out his investment in the device -- in July he reported selling between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry.

• Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), whose brother James runs The Atlantic magazine, has journalism not in his blood, but in his portfolio. Among the other well-known companies he's invested in, Bennet -- a Washingtonian by birthright -- lists the Washington Post Company as stock that he's invested in. t's unclear from his forms, however, if he still holds the stock. (We here on 15th Street don't mind if you sell the stock, senator, just please keep buying the paper.)

• Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), under fire for a mortgage he received from Countrywide Financial, asked for an extension to file later this summer. However, Dodd distributed to the media today a form showing the soaring value of a cottage he owns outside Galway, Ireland. The cottage, which was purchased with a Kansas City businessman, has more than tripled in value since it was purchased in 2002. It's gone from being worth $190,000 to $658,000 at the end of last year.