Romney: "Nothing Hidden" in Tax Returns
Democrats have made the candidate's wealth a key talking point in their discussion about tax fairness.
| Posted Tuesday, July 10, 2012, at 9:55 AM
Photo by Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images.
Mitt Romney is insisting that there is "nothing hidden" in his tax returns, a comment that comes as he faces increasing criticism from Team Obama to release additional info about his financial records.
The presumptive GOP nominee told an Iowa radio host that his investments are in a blind trust and above board. "I don't manage them," he said in an interview that aired Tuesday. "I don't even know where they are. That trustee follows all U.S. laws. All the taxes are paid, as appropriate. All of them have been reported to the government. There’s nothing hidden there."
To date, Romney has released a tax estimate for 2011 and his 2010 tax returns. His substantial wealth has long been a talking point among his critics, but in recent days Democrats have increasingly attempted to highlight it as they try paint him as a protector of the rich.
Democrats have been citing a recent Vanity Fair investigation into Romney's finances in their calls for more financial transparency from the candidate. The issue of Romney's tax returns also fits nicely with this week's Democratic campaign theme of middle-class tax cuts.
On Monday, Obama himself called on Romney to release more of his returns, telling an ABC affiliate in New Hampshire that Romney needs to be an "open book" as a presidential candidate. "And that’s been true of every presidential candidate dating all the way back to Mitt Romney’s father,” Obama added, referring to George Romney, who released 12 years of his own returns.
For his part, Romney said that Democrats are merely trying to change the subject away from the current jobs market. "I understand the president's going to try to do anything he can to divert attention from the fact that his jobs record is weak and he has no plan to make things better," Romney said in the interview.
