Trump becomes the first main party nominee in more than 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns
A big mistake by Trump? He becomes 1st main party nominee since Watergate refusing to release tax returns https://t.co/HdxRhfa62y via @msnbc
— Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) July 27, 2016
Even Richard Nixon released his
Releasing tax returns has become very much part of politics in recent times and has been a well established practice in the US since Watergate.
Generally they are issued at a time of the candidate’s choosing and become an issue for a day or so before the media moves on to something else. In 2012 Mitt Romney eventually produced a full set going back several years after a prolonged media clamour.
Today a spokesman for Trump said that he wouldn’t be doing this because they “were still under audit”. Apparently Richard Nixon’s were “under audit” in 1972 and he still released them.
All this will do is cause speculation to mount as to why not. One theory is that it will highlight his alleged Russian links. Another theory is that it they will show that he is not the multi-billionaire that he makes out to be.
Who knows? But this is a big negative and will take the sting out of the “crooked Clinton” narrative that he’s been trying to develop.