By Kenneth C. Rossignol

ST. MARY’S TODAY

LEONARDTOWN (Oct. 18, 2009) — William Anthony "Tony" Lake is the latest top advisor to the President to have a tax problem.

Lake, one of two principal foreign policy advisors of President Barack Obama during last year’s campaign was considered a front runner to be selected Secretary of State.

Lake served as President Bill Clinton’s National Security Advisor for four years and who had been nominated by Clinton in 1996 for the post of CIA Director is presently cheating the State of Maryland on his real estate taxes, which could explain why in spite of his shunning the candidacy of Hillary Clinton and defecting to the Obama campaign, he has not been rewarded with a top Obama Administration post.

Lake was also an important fundraiser for Obama, raising over $200,000 for him as a ‘bundler’ according to published reports.

Attempts to reach Lake for comment at his office by phone were unsuccessful on Friday and his home phone number voice mail was full, while an email requesting comment was not returned prior to press deadline.

According to public records, Lake owns a home at 43557 Blake Creek Road in Valley Lee, a home he bought in 2001 for $400,000. The waterfront home located in St. Mary’s County has frontage on the Potomac River and on Blake Creek.

Lake’s property is taxed as his principal place of residence, qualifying him for a lower tax rate under the homestead tax deduction.

However, Lake doesn’t live in the home and it is unclear if he ever has used it for more than a weekend retreat from the city.

Lake is a professor with the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Diplomacy at Georgetown University and has been a member of the board of trustees of St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

In addition to his present post at Georgetown, Lake is a paid speaker on the lecture circuit and is represented by the Harry Walker Agency.

The agency has a full biography of Lake on its website which notes that Lake is a resident of Washington, D.C.

Lake’s address on 1749 P. Street in Northwest Washington is listed on tax rolls in the city as belonging to his wife Julie Katzman.

Katzman’s District of Columbia tax records for the property show that she is the only owner listed and that she bought the house for $2.1 million in 2004.

Katzman and Lake were married in 2005 in the Dominican Republic after his conversion to Judaism, according to Moment Magazine. Getting the point in his conversion, Lake even underwent a ceremonial circumcision to draw a drop of blood. Katzman is an investment banker.

Lake’s house in St. Mary’s County has been occupied from 2005 until August of 2009 by Harry Weitzel.

Weitzel is a vice president of the hotel and investment firm owned by Tommy Waring and based in Great Mills.

Weitzel is a trustee emeritus of St. Mary’s College of Maryland; director of the college’s foundation, which lost so much of it’s money in the stock market that this year it cannot fund scholarships; is the chair of its investment committee, and chairman of its Center for the Study of Democracy.

Weitzel and his wife Jan advertised their 2007 wedding on an internet website with the Blake Creek house listed as their home.

Weitzel donated to the campaign of Sen. Roy Dyson in 2007 and listed the Blake Creek address as his residence and the same address was listed in the campaign finance records of Barack Obama when he gave a $1,500 contribution to the successful presidential campaign.

Lake listed the Blake Creek Road house for sale in July at a price of $929,000 and recently lowered the price to $899,000.

The savings for a home in this price range are significant when listed as the principal place of residence.

The last assessment on the property was posted on Jan. 1, 2008 when the property was reassessed from $533,120 to $827,200. While the phased in assessment was higher, it might have been as much as a third higher for the taxes had it been accurately listed as a non-owner occupied property.

The homestead tax caps the tax bill at 5 percent each year.

The property is listed as being just over 2 acres in size and improved by an 1882 square foot home which was built in 1952.

The State of Maryland Department of Assessments explains the homestead tax credit program on its website.

"All Maryland homeowners are required to make a one-time application in order to be eligible to receive or continue receiving the Homestead Tax Credit. The Homestead Tax Credit law limits each year the amount of assessment increase on which an eligible resident homeowner actually pays County, Municipal and State property taxes. The application is required to insure that all property owners receive the credit on the one property used as their principal residence and not on properties used for other purposes, such as a rental or vacation home."

This notice is also included with the reassessment sent to each property owner.

The result of Lake’s claiming that the Blake Creek Road property is his principal place of residence, when in fact, that claim is fraudulent, is that he has escaped a much higher annual tax bill, perhaps in the thousands of dollars.

In addition, should he attempt to continue to claim that this property is his principal place of residence, when he has not lived there since at least 2005, such a claim when he sells the property would be fraudulent.

Lake is listed on voting rolls in Maryland for the Blake Creek Road address in the Second election district in precinct 2 which votes at the Piney Point Elementary School. But he is listed as an "inactive voter".

The following explanation is on the state election board website for a definition of an inactive voter: