 By the last week of July , however , questions — due initially to reporting by The New York Times — began about Ferraro 's finances , the finances of her husband , John Zaccaro , and their separately filed tax returns . ( While the Mondale campaign had anticipated some questions , it had only spent 48 hours on vetting Ferraro 's family 's finances . ) This was also the first time the American media had to deal with a national candidate 's husband . Ferraro said she would release both their returns within a month , but maintained she was correct not to have included her husband 's financial holdings on her past annual Congressional disclosure statements . The media also reported on the FEC 's past investigation into Ferraro 's 1978 campaign funds . Although Ferraro and Zaccaro 's finances were often interwoven on paper , with each half partners in Zaccaro 's company , Ferraro had little knowledge of his business , or even how much he was worth . Zaccaro did not understand the greater public exposure that his wife 's new position brought to their family , and resisted releasing his financial information . On August 12 , Ferraro announced that her husband would not in fact be releasing his tax returns , on the grounds that to do so would disadvantage his real estate business and that such a disclosure was voluntary and not part of election law . She joked , " You people who are married to Italian men , you know what it 's like " , angering fellow Italian Americans . 
