Given the mystery surrounding John McCain’s wife’s finances, stories like these are not going to help matters.
Cindy McCain, the wife of the Republican presumptive nominee for president, has sold off at least $2 million she held in funds with investments in Sudan businesses.
The mutual funds — American Funds Europacific Growth and American Funds Capital World Growth and Income — have investments in companies with business in Sudan, according to the Sudan Divestment Task Force, an advocacy organization that has been working to persuade states, universities and other organizations to divest.
“As soon as she was made aware, she sold it,” said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign. “Senator and Mrs. McCain are committed to doing everything possible to end the genocide in Darfur.”
Both funds were listed by her husband, Senator John McCain, on his financial disclosure forms. The investments and the divestiture were first reported by The Associated Press, and confirmed by the McCain campaign.
This issue came up briefly a year ago, when four presidential candidates — Sam Brownback, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, and Barack Obama — learned of their Sudan-related holdings and quickly divested themselves. For John McCain, who seems to have very few assets of his own, this didn’t come up until now.
In light of Cindy McCain’s rather indignant remarks last week about keeping her finances private, these $2 million dollars in Sudanese investments just won’t do.
