(AP) WASHINGTON - A top aide to Barack Obama says the public should have confidence in Obama’s pick for treasury secretary despite his tax problems.

Adviser David Axelrod says Timothy Geithner (GYT’-nur ) made a common mistake in not paying his self-employment taxes for money he earned from 2001 to 2004 while working for the International Monetary Fund. Axelrod says accountants say this is a fairly common mistake.

Axelrod said on CNN’s "State of the Union" that when Americans get to know Geithner, they will have the same confidence in him as the finance community does.

Geithner paid some of the taxes in 2006, after an Internal Revenue Service audit. Days before Obama tapped him for Treasury, Geithner paid back most of the taxes.