WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton’s campaign is keeping up its attacks on Donald Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns.
The former secretary of state’s campaign on Saturday released a web ad asking what the presumptive GOP nominee could be hiding in the documents. The spot mentions that every single presidential nominee since 1976 has released his tax returns before showing occasions where Trump has previously said he’d release them.
The ad shows Trump saying he’d release his tax returns if President Barack Obama released his birth certificate and if he ran for office. Both conditions have been met — but Trump has yet to release his returns.
The spot also shows Trump saying he is thinking about releasing his tax returns and another occasion when he said he can’t because he is under audit.
Saturday’s ad continues a line of attack Clinton has deployed against Trump this week. Speaking in New Jersey on Wednesday, Clinton asked why Trump has not put out more information about how much he makes and pays in taxes.
“Because when you run for president, especially when you become the nominee, that is kind of expected,” Clinton said. “My husband and I have released 33 years of tax returns, we’ve got eight years on our website right now. So you have got to ask yourself, why does he not release them?”
On Wednesday, Trump told The Associated Press that he would not release his tax returns until his audits are complete. Given that he says his tax returns since 2009 are still under audit, it is highly unlikely Trump will release anything before the November 2016 election if he sticks to that reasoning.
ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos pressed Trump Friday on why he won’t release his tax returns until audits of them are complete, considering that he has previously released them for potential casino deals under similar circumstances. The Internal Revenue Service has said nothing precludes someone under audit from disclosing their returns.
“It’s none of your business, you’ll see it when I release. But I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible,” Trump replied on “Good Morning America” when asked about his tax rate.
Trump said he did not think the American people needed to see his tax returns.
“I don’t think they do, but I do say this: I will really gladly give them. They’re not going to learn anything, but it’s under routine audit,” he said. “You learn very little from tax returns.”
