The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 1/7/09 Section: News

** FILE ** In this Nov. 24, 2008 file photo, Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner listens as President-elect Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in Chicago. Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to run the Treasury Department and lead the economic rescue effort disclosed to senators Tuesday that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes from 2001 to 2004, a last-minute complication in an otherwise smooth path to confirmation. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama's choice to run the Treasury Department and lead the economic rescue effort disclosed publicly Tuesday that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes from 2001 to 2004, a last-minute complication in an otherwise smooth path to confirmation.

Timothy Geithner paid most of the past-due taxes days before Obama announced his nomination in November, according to materials released by the Senate Finance Committee. He had paid the remainder of the taxes in 2006, after the IRS sent him a bill.

The still-unpaid taxes were discovered by Obama's transition team while investigating Geithner's background.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said he still hoped Geithner could be confirmed on Inauguration Day. Obama's staff told senators about Geithner's tax issues Dec. 5.

"These errors were not intentional; they were honest mistakes," Baucus said after he and other committee members met with Geithner behind closed doors.

Obama reiterated his support Tuesday for Geithner as the nominee met with senators to discuss the unpaid taxes - and also an immigrant housekeeper who worked for Geithner for several months without the proper employment documentation.

"He's dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction," incoming White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes, which, upon learning of them, he quickly addressed."

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