How does Mike Johnson pay his cell-phone bill?
House Speaker Mike Johnson makes big bucks, but he has no bank account, according to a report at The New Republic (TNR). So, what gives? Why would someone who is two heartbeats away from the U.S presidency not have something as basic as a bank account -- and public records indicate he has not had one for seven years? Under the headline "A new report reveals House Speaker Mike Johnson doesn’t have a single bank account. So where the hell is his money?" TNR's Tori Otten reports:
House Speaker Mike Johnson makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year but apparently does not have a bank account, a new report reveals.
Johnson was first elected in 2016 and has served on the Hill ever since. In all seven financial disclosure forms he submitted for those years, he has not mentioned holding a single bank account, The Daily Beast reported.
The House Ethics Committee requires members of Congress to disclose all of their household’s bank accounts if the accounts each hold at least $1,000 and have a combined value of more than $5,000. Johnson has made at least $174,000 per year from the combination of his representative salary and any additional payments he received, such as from a teaching appearance. Johnson’s wife has two streams of income, from two different employers.
But on his financial disclosures, Johnson has listed only one asset: a retirement account. In 2016, he listed a state-government Fidelity account valued between $1,000 and $15,000. He transferred those savings to a Thrift Savings plan, a federal program, the following year. Johnson appears to have cashed out the entire account in 2021, because he lists no assets at all on his 2022 form.
The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has no assets? I've heard of spartan lifestyles, but this is out there. Does this guy live like a hermit. What do his tax returns look like? What does his credit report look like? How does he put a tank of gas in his vehicle -- unless he takes a horse and buggy to work? Here is more from Tori Otten:
Johnson’s disclosure forms are remarkably sparse. He lists almost no travel reimbursements or gifts, and relatively little external income.
But Johnson does owe a lot of money. Every year, he has listed a mortgage on which he owes hundreds of thousands of dollars and a personal loan on which he owes tens of thousands. In 2019, he opened up a home equity line of credit, also worth tens of thousands of dollars.
It is, of course, possible that Johnson really has no bank accounts and just keeps all his money in sacks of cash hidden under his mattress. Another explanation could be that he has selective amnesia and has forgotten to disclose his assets for seven years. But several ethics experts offered another reason: Johnson is terrible at managing the money he makes and may be in massive debt.
So, the House speaker might be terrible at managing money? That's reassuring. This is the guy who is supposed to help avoid a government shutdown? He's supposed to reduce the national debt? He's the guy to cut complex deals, involving millions of taxpayer dollars, with the Senate and the White House? Otten writes:
“He owes hundreds of thousands of dollars between a mortgage, personal loan, and home-equity line of credit, so where did that money go?” Jordan Libowitz, the communications director for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told The Daily Beast. “If he truly has no bank account and no assets, it raises questions about his personal financial well-being.”
This story is so bizarre we had a discussion about it in the Legal Schnauzer household. Why? For one, I kind of like the idea that we look like financial wizards compared to a guy who could become president at a moment's notice. (On second thought, I don't feel so good about that.) I asked Mrs. Schnauzer (my wife, Carol) what she thought of Mike Johnson having no bank accounts and no assets. Her first response? "Gee, that's not suspicious." Her second response? "I think he's trying to cover up something."
Those are the best guesses from our kitchen table. We would welcome thoughts from readers. This truly is a story that raises more questions than it answers. What do you think is going on?