Donald Trump said Wednesday he will release his tax returns after an audit is complete. In an Associated Press interview, Trump said “there’s nothing to learn” from his tax returns and dismissed the idea that voters had a right to see them before going to the polls.
But in a tweet late Wednesday afternoon, he said he told the news agency he would release his returns when the audit is finished, “not after the election.”
Donald J. Trump
In interview I told @AP that my taxes are under routine audit and I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election!
In America however, there is no legal requirement for a presidential candidate to make his or her tax returns public, but every major party nominee since 1976 has done so.
But people took to social media, and pointed out that the tax returns could contain valuable information about Trump’s background.
Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney also joined those critics in a post on Facebook, calling it “disqualifying” for a nominee to a major party not to release returns. “Tax returns provide the public with its sole confirmation of the veracity of a candidate’s representations regarding charities, priorities, wealth, tax conformance and conflicts of interest.”
It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has not been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service. Tax returns provide the public with its sole confirmation of the veracity of a candidate's representations regarding charities, priorities, wealth, tax conformance, and conflicts of interest. Further, while not a likely circumstance, the potential for hidden inappropriate associations with foreign entities, criminal organizations, or other unsavory groups is simply too great a risk to ignore for someone who is seeking to become commander-in-chief.
Mr. Trump says he is being audited. So? There is nothing that prevents releasing tax returns that are being audited. Further, he could release returns for the years immediately prior to the years under audit. There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump's refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them. Given Mr. Trump's equanimity with other flaws in his history, we can only assume it's a bombshell of unusual size.
(Anticipating inquiries regarding my own tax release history, I released my 2010 tax returns in January of 2012 and I released my 2011 tax returns as soon as they were completed, in September of 2012.)
So voters will go into the booth not knowing to whom eternally over-leveraged, serially bailed out Trump is beholden twitter.com/politico/statu…
Of course he isn't--can't afford to let voters know how surprisingly cash-poor he really is. Or how he avoids taxes. twitter.com/maggieNYT/stat…
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