Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney blasted Donald Trump on Wednesday after his successor hinted that it is unlikely he will release his tax returns before the November election.
“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,” Romney wrote in Facebook post.
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“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,” he added.
Trump told the Associated Press in an interview Tuesday night that there is “nothing to learn from” his tax returns and he probably won’t release them before voters cast their ballots on Nov. 8 if the IRS hasn’t finished auditing them by then. The billionaire later took to Twitter to say that he would release his returns “when [the] audit is complete,” but not indicate what he would do if that date doesn’t come before the election.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 11, 2016
But Romney claims Trump’s reluctance has nothing to do with the IRS.
“There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump’s refusal to release his returns,” he wrote Wednesday. “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.”
Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns comes months after IRS officials confirmed that no laws prevent the businessman from making the documents public while he’s being audited. His attorney simply responded by saying Trump’s taxes have been “under continuous examination” for years.
Romney suggested that even if Trump is concerned about releasing his taxes that are being audited, he “could release returns for the years immediately prior to the years under audit.”
“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,” the former Massachusetts governor noted.
A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign could not be reached for comment.
