Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993 TAG: 9302080055
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
BROWN DIDN'T PAY TAXES FOR PART-TIME DOMESTIC HELP BROWN
Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown admitted Sunday that for the past four or five years he failed to pay Social Security taxes for his part-time household help. But he said he began paying the taxes when the controversy over illegal nannies began to unfold last month and he became aware of his obligations.Brown, a lawyer, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he had been unaware of his tax obligations and that he paid back taxes and penalties "when this came to light" with the disclosure that Attorney General-designate Zoe Baird had failed to pay Social Security taxes for an undocumented Peruvian couple working for her.
Brown said his household worker was not an illegal immigrant and came to his house only on an "irregular basis" for three hours a week to help his wife with the cleaning. Brown's admission, in response to a question, placed him in a category similar to that of Washington lawyer Charles Ruff, who was ruled out by the White House as a possible attorney general because until recently he had failed to pay Social Security taxes for his one-day-a-week documented household help.
Kimba Wood, the Manhattan federal judge who was reported to be President Clinton's top choice for attorney general after Baird's abrupt withdrawal, withdrew her name on Friday, explaining that she had hired an immigrant with an expired entry visa as a babysitter. Wood, however, did so before a 1986 immigration law barred hiring undocumented workers. She said she had paid all taxes, filed all the necessary documents and "fulfilled every legal requirement."