McCaskill Denies GOP Tax Shelter Charge

"It's A Gotcha Deal"

Senator Claire McCaskill flatly denied that she or her husband has an off-shore tax shelter in Bermuda, a claim the Missouri Republican launched last week.

McCaskill has part ownership of a company called Rural Reinsurance Company International, but said it has "absolutely nothing to do with a tax shelter."

Last week, Missouri Republican Party Executive Director Jared Craighead called McCaskill a hypocrite for co-sponsoring legislation that would clamp down on offshore tax shelters while benefiting "from a tax haven of her own in Bermuda." Party Chair David Cole said she has dodged questions for years about Bermuda-based Rural Reinsurance.

At Saturday's Democrat Days in Hannibal, McCaskill called it "a gotcha deal." (Watch full question and answer clip above.)

"We . . . do not have, and have not had a tax shelter, and one of the reasons I sponsored the legislation, is to make sure no one does," McCaskill replied, responding to questions from The Notebook.

She explained that most reinsurance companies are stationed in Bermuda or London because they deal with 50-state or international selling.

"There is not one dime from that company that would not be subject to every single penny of taxation in the U.S.," McCaskill said.