“I would release tax returns.”
The words of Donald Trump to conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt in February, 2015.
Voters are used to being lied to by politicians, but Donald Trump was supposed to be different. The billionaire, who has never held any public office, promised Americans he wouldn’t be like those establishment types.
Alas, the Trump team announced today that voters will not see his tax returns before the election, becoming the first campaign in a generation to fail that basic test.
We still do not know whether Trump has financial interests in Russia. We do not know if he has ever donated anything to charity as claimed. We do not know whether he’s as super rich as he has claimed. We do not know if he’s paid zero in federal taxes for twenty years, even during wartime.
“I find it amazing that we are ten days out and a major candidate for President didn’t release his tax returns,” said Matthew Dowd, a former top strategist to George W. Bush. “And no one seems to care.”
Trump says his tax returns are under audit, but the IRS has made it clear that does not prohibit him from releasing them. And the fact remains we do not even know for sure that an audit is even taking place.
As bad as you think Trump’s tax releases are, at this point they are probably worse.
Hillary Clinton has her email troubles, Trump has his truthfulness issue. He certainly lied to us about this one.