JB Pritzker, who is worth $3.5 billion, obviously has complicated investments. He has not released -- nor has Chris Kennedy -- all of his tax returns.
But the questions lingering in these final days of the campaign focus on Pritzker's off shore investments. Kennedy says he has no off shore investments.
"I don't get a distribution from them, any distributions go to charities," Pritzker said of the investments.
Securities lawyer Andrew Stoltmann reacted to questions that rose after the Chicago Tribune unveiled new off shore companies set up by Pritzker.
"When you have these trusts hiding where money is coming from and the taxes paid, the optics of it are simply really, really bad," he said. "Whether we have offshore trusts is important because we need to know that. And it's doubly important when you have a candidate who's a multibillionaire and who's only released two pages of his tax returns."
Kennedy held a news conference Thursday. Pritzker has been unavailable since he abruptly left as reporters asked questions after Thursday night's debate.
"If we have as our standard bearer, the head of our party, the top of our tick--a tax cheat--I don't think we're going to get that support," Kennedy said.
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Likewise Daniel Biss has questions today for both Kennedy and Pritzker.
"If these guys actually released their full tax returns we would have a lot of answers," Biss said. "They're not willing to. They're hiding. They're embarassed."
Throw in Gov. Bruce Rauner, who makes fun of Pritzker's off shore accounts with a Snapchat filter featuring a cartoonish image of Pritzker sipping a tropical drink with the words "Greetings From The Bahamas." At the same time, Rauner has his own investments in the Cayman Islands.
"There's certainly nothing nefarious about it," Stoltmann said. "And I will bet you the overwhelming majority of billionaires do the same thing."
He said the Prtizkers have been a private family and now that JB is running for a high-profile office he is having to get used to the glare of the public.
"I think it's a little bit of a culture shock," Stoltmann said.
