Subject: RE: FOR RR2: Trump Criticized from All Sides on Tax Returns
From: "Lykins, Tyler" <[email-masked]>
To: "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>, RR2 <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 08:03:52 -0700

Good

From: Paustenbach, Mark
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2016 10:54 AM
To: RR2
Subject: FOR RR2: Trump Criticized from All Sides on Tax Returns

SL: Trump Criticized from All Sides on Tax Returns

Donald Trump's refusal to release his tax returns, as well as his false claim that voters would learn nothing from them anyway, demonstrates he is not being forthright with the American people and is unfit to occupy the White House. His returns, according to experts, would answer a number of outstanding questions about whether Trump is paying his fair share and offer a true measure of his personal wealth and his charitable giving.

Never mind that Donald Trump is now backtracking on his previous commitment to transparency. When Trump first considered running for President in 1999, he said he, "probably wouldn't have a problem with" releasing his tax returns if he ran. Later, in 2012, he said if you're running for President, "at a minimum, probably, you're going to have to show your [tax] returns" and they should be released by April 1st of the election year.

Washington Post Fact Checker: Trump's false claim that 'there's nothing to learn' from his tax returns<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/05/12/trumps-false-claim-that-theres-nothing-to-learn-from-his-tax-returns/>
"Trump falsely claims that voters would learn nothing from his tax returns. To the contrary, voters would learn a lot of information that Trump has long tried to hide from the public. Tax returns would help lift a veil of secrecy about Trump's finances - and let voters know whether his claims about his wealth and charitable giving are true, or if he's just a bombastic man behind the curtain akin to the Wizard of Oz. Four Pinocchios."

Wall Street Journal: Criticism Grows Over Trump's Withheld Tax Returns<http://www.wsj.com/articles/furor-grows-over-trumps-withheld-tax-returns-1463005241>
"Mr. Trump has offered shifting explanations for his lack of disclosure, including the fact that his returns were currently under audit. He said voters aren't interested in the returns. And he said they don't reveal wealth. That's true, but they would show information about his sources of income, his aggressiveness in tax planning and his charitable deductions. Mr. Trump claims a net worth exceeding $10 billion, though independent estimates peg that far lower. Mr. Thorndike, who directs the Tax History Project at Tax Analysts, a nonprofit tax policy center, said the tradition of presidential and other candidates releasing returns exists for a reason. 'It's the principle of the disclosure, that someone running for the highest office in the land and someone who incidentally would be making sure that the rest of us live up to our tax obligations, should be willing to show us that he lives up to his,' Mr. Thorndike said."

Washington Post: Trump, prompting criticism, indicates he may not release tax returns before Election Day<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/11/trump-prompting-criticism-indicates-he-may-not-release-tax-returns-before-election-day/>
"Former GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who has been one of his party's most vocal critics of Trump, called Trump's decision not to release returns 'disqualifying' in a statement release on social media. '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. 'Mr. Trump says he is being audited. So? There is nothing that prevents releasing tax returns that are being audited.' Romney has previously accused Trump of attempting to conceal a "bombshell" by withholding the release of his taxes, which he repeated again Wednesday. Romney's hesitation to release his own tax returns became an issue in the 2012 campaign."

Boston Globe: Trump says he won't release tax returns<https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/05/11/trumptaxes/ZKpqOFcmqMeZ7BSmosw6KK/story.html>
"Trump's refusal to agree to release the documents prompted an immediate backlash from both Democrats and Republicans, including a harsh condemnation from 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. ... Modern presidential candidates have grown accustomed to releasing documentation so voters can make informed decisions about their qualifications. The candidates release letters from their physicians that provide some details about their health, and usually release financial information as well. Trump himself was a major force pushing President Obama to release his birth certificate - and he also criticized Romney for not releasing his taxes earlier in 2012."

U.S. News and World Report: Trump Still Won't Release Tax Returns<http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-11/trump-still-wont-release-tax-returns>
"A closer look at Trump's finances might also feed skepticism of Trump's claim he is worth $10 billion. A businessman overseeing a vast real estate empire - albeit with multiple failed companies and four bankruptcies on his resume - Trump's tax returns won't reveal the true amount of his wealth, but they could clear up other lingering questions. In February, when Trump's taxes surfaced as a campaign issue, David Cay Johnston, author of 'Perfectly Legal: the Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - and Cheat Everybody Else,' detailed the kind of damning information Trump's full tax returns could potentially contain. Not only could the public learn his income and the scope of his charitable giving -which has been called into doubt - the returns could indicate whether Trump is leveraging his assets and thus vulnerable to defaulting on his debts. It also would show if he, like other wealthy Americans, has claimed negative income to avoid paying income tax."