Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made it fairly clear this morning that he will become the first presidential nominee to never release his tax returns.
During an interview with the Associated Press, Trump said his returns wouldn't tell us anything we don't already know.
Despite pressure, the billionaire also doesn't expect to release his tax returns before November, citing an ongoing audit of his finances. He said he will release them after the audit ends. But he said that he wouldn't overrule his lawyers and instruct them to release his returns if the audit hasn't concluded by November.
"There's nothing to learn from them," Trump told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. He also has said he doesn't believe voters are interested.
I have my doubts that there's "nothing to learn from them."
I think it's safe to assume that Trump is not as generous toward charities as he would like people to believe, but that's not what I think he's hiding. I believe Trump is hiding the true extent to which he dodges taxes and deducts his own personal spending as business expenses. You could go as far as to say his returns could reveal that Trump's lifestyle, from the helicopters to the private jets, is effectively subsidized by taxpayers. This would mean his "self-funded" political campaign has been subsidized by taxpayers.
Trump undoubtedly employs clever lawyers and accountants who know every single loophole in the book.
Some voters may not be interested in the issue now, but that can change. As long as Trump refuses to release his returns, the Clinton campaign is free to keep asking what he's hiding. Clinton has released 20 years of returns.
Mitt Romney never released more than a year of his returns, excluding all of his time at Bain Capital. He ultimately paid for that.