Claim: In 2007, Barack Obama belatedly paid parking tickets accumulated while he was a student at Harvard.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, July 2009]
As first reported in March 2007 by the Somerville Times. Harvard law student Barack Obama accumulated
True or false?
Origins: In March 2007, the Associated Press and other news outlets (relaying information from the Somerville News) reported that Barack Obama had two months earlier (just a few weeks before announcing his candidacy for president) paid $375 to settle
The Illinois Senator shelled out $375 in Obama received 17 parking tickets in Cambridge between 1988 and 1991, mostly for parking in a bus stop, parking without a resident permit and failing to pay the meter, records from the Cambridge Traffic, Parking and Transportation office show. He incurred $140 in fines and $260 in late fees in Cambridge in all, but he paid $25 for two of the tickets in
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama got more than an education when he attended Harvard Law School in the late 1980s. He also got a healthy stack of parking tickets, most of which he never paid.
A spokesperson for the then-senator acknowledged at the time that Barack Obama had indeed cleared up some overdue parking violations:
"He didn't owe that much and what he did owe, he paid," Psaki said. "Many people have parking tickets and late fees. All the parking tickets and late fees were paid in full."
Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, dismissed the tickets as not relevant.
Last updated: 25 July 2009
 | Sources: |
Colby, Edward B. "Obama's Parking Tickets: Who Cares?" Chicago Sun-Times. 11 March 2007 (p. B5). Associated Press. "Obama Pays Parking Tickets 17 Years Late." USA Today. 7 March 2007.
