Donald Trump continues to drag his feet over releasing his tax returns. He claims the excuse of being unfairly and inconveniently audited every year, yet the billionaire promised to release the documents when his newest audit ended. On Wednesday, he made the same claim on Twitter regarding his “routine audit,” but he said differently in a Tuesday interview. Trump told the Associated Press that the media won’t see his tax returns until after the November election because “there’s nothing to learn from them.” That’s not much of an excuse, especially if there’s nothing to hide.
Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney won’t accept Trump’s explanation, for he believes Trump must be concealing something. Romney has been very critical of Trump for several months and asked Republican voters to reject the real estate mogul. That hasn’t happened, and now that Trump is the presumptive nominee, Romney’s taking another shot. He tapped out a Facebook post to call attention to Trump’s evasive maneuver, which Romney believes disqualifies Trump from the race:
“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.”
Romney has a point about Trump’s lack of a record for both public office and military service. His private business and tax dealings are the only way voters would have a fair shake at judging Trump’s truth-telling abilities. Yet the truth hasn’t seemed to matter in an election that’s seen plenty of flip-flopping from both political parties. Folks are used to half truths from politicians, but both Hillary Clinton (who won’t release her Wall Street transcripts) and Trump have outright refused to release potentially illuminating documents. This is a strange election.
Well, Romney still hopes that voters will call upon Trump to reveal all about his taxes. He openly speculates that a “bombshell of unusual size” must reside within them. At this point in the election, that’s a valid question.
(Via Mitt Romney on Facebook & ABC News)