• Home
  • Trump
  • Fact Checks
    • PolitiFact
    • FactCheck.org
    • Snopes
    • NPC Politics Fact Check
    • Media Matters for America
    • The Washington Post Fact Checker
  • Video
  • Humor
  • Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
KnowPolitical
  • January 23rd, 2021
  • The Hill
  • Maddow Blog
  • Newsweek
  • Vox
  • Politico
  • Mother Jones
  • Slate
  • Talking Points Memo
  • The Advocate
  • Salon
  • The Nation
KnowPolitical
  • Home
  • Trump
  • Fact Checks
    • PolitiFact
    • FactCheck.org
    • Snopes
    • NPC Politics Fact Check
    • Media Matters for America
    • The Washington Post Fact Checker
  • Video
  • Humor
  • Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
Home
Kellyanne Conway

Trump will never release tax returns, says Conway — ignores massive petition and repeated promises dating back to 2011

264
SHARES
ShareTweet

The White House response is that he’s not going to release his tax returns. We litigated this all through the election. People didn’t care, they voted for him.

Kellyanne Conway

Senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway now says Trump will never release his tax returns, despite promises dating back to 2011 and numerous polls showing a vested interest and concern among the majority of Americans. Every major party presidential nominee since the late 1970s has released their tax returns before Election Day.

A White House petition posted on Friday demanding Trump’s tax returns be released has already reached 200,000 signatures. Only 100,000 signatures are needed to warrant an official White House response.

And what was that response?

“The White House response is that he’s not going to release his tax returns,” Trump’s senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway said Sunday on ABC’s This Week. “We litigated this all through the election. People didn’t care, they voted for him.” she added.

Multiple public opinion polls show that the majority of Americans want Trump to release his tax returns.

  • 74% of Americans do, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll (1/16/17)
  • 60% of Americans do, according to a Pew Research study (1/10/17)
  • 52% of Americans do, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll (9/21/17)
  • 60% of voters do, according to a Fox News poll (9/7/16)
  • 74% of Americans (and 62% Republicans) do, according to Quinnipiac University study (8/25/16)
  • 67% of US voters do, according to a national Rasmussen survey (August 2016)
  • 67% of Americans (and 60% of Republicans) do, according to a national survey by Morning Consult (May 2016)

Yet Trump himself and his aides claim that only reporters and the media are interested in the tax returns

“This is an issue the media is interested in. This isn’t an issue that middle America is interested in,” Trump aide Paul Manafort said on CNN’s “State of the Union” said in May 2016.

“You know, the only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters, okay? They’re the only ones,” Trump said during a January 11, 2017 press conference, saying he thought the American public isn’t concerned about it. “I won; I mean, I became president. No, I don’t think they care at all. I don’t think they care at all. I think you care.”

But Trump has repeatedly been promising to release his tax returns since 2011

“Maybe I’m going to do the tax returns when Obama does his birth certificate,” Trump said in an April 18, 2011, interview with ABC. “I may tie my tax returns, I’d love to give my tax returns, I may tie my tax returns into Obama’s birth certificate.”

But when the White House released Obama’s birth certificate a week later, Trump told ABC he would fulfill his pledge and release his tax records “at the appropriate time.”

“If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns, absolutely and I would love to do that,” Trump said in a May 2014 interview with TV3’s Colette Fitzpatrick in Ireland.

“I have no objection to showing any tax return,” Trump said in a February 2015 interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

“Will you release any of your tax returns for the public to scrutinize?” NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Trump in January 2016.

“Well, we’re working on that now. I have very big returns, as you know, and I have everything all approved and very beautiful and we’ll be working that over in the next period of time, Chuck. Absolutely,” Trump replied.

A few weeks later, Trump told the Today Show in February 2016 that he’ll release his tax returns “probably over the next few months.”

In September of 2016, after Mike Pence released 10 years of his own tax returns his spokesman said at the time, “These returns are being released with the full support of Mr. Trump who plans to release his tax returns upon completion of a routine audit.”

Despite repeated claims that Trump cannot release his tax returns while under audit, the IRS has said that being under audit does not bar a person from releasing his or her tax information.

Why this matters

While there is no law requiring any presidential candidate to release their tax returns, it is a gesture of transparency that is part of a tradition going back decades. Every major party nominee since the late 1970s has released tax returns before Election Day. The Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit group focused on government transparency says that tax returns can provide important insight into a candidate’s values and to shed light on their potential conflicts of interest.

“There is a reason why banks use tax returns when evaluating mortgages: the forms offer a snapshot of a person’s financial position and their financial decision making processes,” the Foundation wrote in July.

The Tax History project director also says that beyond an effective tax rate, “[r]eturns can shed light on the way a candidate lives his life. It can tell us about charitable giving as well as personal borrowing and investment activity. Returns can also illuminate the complicated business arrangements that often provide the bulk of a candidate’s income, especially for a real estate mogul like Trump.”

On May 11, former 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney posted a message to Facebook calling Trump’s refusal to release tax returns “disqualifying.”

There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump’s refusal to release his returns: 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.

Mitt Romney (May 11, 2016)
    Sources
  • http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/public-splits-trumps-ethics-compliance-quarters-tax-returns/story?id=44811545
  • POLITICO
    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/poll-should-trump-release-tax-returns-227408
  • http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/voters-donald-trump-finally-release-tax-returns-poll-article-1.2648282
  • http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/oct/05/mike-pence/pences-false-claim-trump-hasnt-broken-tax-return-p/
  • TIME Magazine
    http://time.com/4631541/donald-trump-tax-returns-press-conference/
  • http:/www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/09/493357161/mike-pence-releases-his-tax-returns-donald-trump-still-wont
  • http://www.factcheck.org/2016/05/trumps-tax-returns/
Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest
Previous article Trump, "Alternative Facts" and the Women's March: A Closer Look
Next article Trump Falsely Claims Sparse Crowd Photos Were Taken Early — Reuters Hits Back

Related Posts

What Trump's Taxes Reveal About His Business Record: A Closer Look

What Trump's Taxes Reveal About His Business Record: A Closer Look

October 3rd, 2016
Trump Only Knows What's On The Internet

Trump Only Knows What's On The Internet

March 15th, 2016
A parting lesson from Obama, at Trump's inauguration

A parting lesson from Obama, at Trump's inauguration

January 20th, 2017
Trump Spams The United Kingdom

Trump Spams The United Kingdom

June 30th, 2016
Trump University: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Trump University: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

November 29th, 2016
Why Donald Trump Should Stop Fighting with the CIA

Why Donald Trump Should Stop Fighting with the CIA

January 21st, 2017

Facebook Comments

Like Us On Facebook
Latest Headlines
  • Why Biden Can Undo Much of Trump’s Legacy Via Executive Orders
    President Donald Trump came to rely on executive action for many of his achievements. But his successor seems to understand that it is best used to repeal someone else’s legacy, not build his own. ... read more
    The New York Times2021-01-22
    2 hours ago
  • Trump and Justice Dept. Lawyer Said to Have Plotted to Oust Acting Attorney General
    Trying to find another avenue to push his baseless election claims, Donald Trump considered installing a loyalist, and had the men make their cases to him. ... read more
    The New York Times2021-01-22
    5 hours ago
  • To fight impeachment, Trump turns to ‘Butch’ Bowers, a South Carolina lawyer at a small firm who has defended state Republicans
    GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham recommended Bowers for a job many prominent Washington lawyers did not want. ... read more
    The Washington Post2021-01-22
    6 hours ago
  • President Joe Biden Is Halting Deportations for 100 Days, a Respite For Many Undocumented Immigrants
    Raul Medina has spent his entire life afraid of that he or his family would be detained and deported. He was born in Mexico, but was brought to the U.S. at the age of five by his parents, and says he was well trained not to speak about his legal status. He and his family are undocumented and have lived with uncertainty for the more than 20 years they’ve lived in Colorado. Now, for at least the next 100 days, he and his family won’t have to worry about deportation proceedings after the Biden Administration implemented a stop ... read more
    TIME Magazine2021-01-22
    6 hours ago
  • How Biden Can Fix Trump’s 1776 Disaster
    Before even taking office, Joe Biden pledged to disband Donald Trump’s 1776 Commission—designed to promote “patriotic education” and counter the New York Times’ controversial “1619 Project,” which put slavery at the center of the American historical narrative. And by 12:01 p.m. on Inauguration Day, the commission’s extravagantly mocked “1776 Report,” a 45-page, unsourced so-called “definitive chronicle of the American Founding” (released only 48 hours earlier on Martin Luther King Jr. Day), vanished from the White House website.The disappearance was cheered by professional historians and large swaths of the population. The Trump administration’s commission was “a hack job” reflecting a “clumsy ... read more
    POLITICO2021-01-22
    7 hours ago
  • Biden admin launches review of Trump decision to designate Yemen’s Houthis as foreign terrorist organization
    The State Department has initiated a review of the Trump administration's decision to designate Yemen's Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), a spokesperson told CNN Friday. ... read more
    CNN2021-01-22
    7 hours ago
  • After Donald Trump’s Departure, Washington Begins to Put Back the Pieces
    More than two weeks since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, Washington is starting to feel a little less like a city under siege, as barriers come down, streets reopen, and the country’s new leaders start the work of assessing the damage from the calamitous final weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency. As I walked to the White House on Friday — President Joe Biden’s second full day in office — signs of the democratic crisis we all just lived through weren’t entirely gone. Workers stacked black steel fencing that had blocked streets for multiple city blocks around ... read more
    TIME Magazine2021-01-22
    7 hours ago
  • Union Membership Declined Again Last Year. But Here’s Why 2021 Could Be Good for Organized Labor
    Labor unions in the United States haven’t had much good news in recent years, but this week may have provided some reasons for optimism. The rate of unionization in the U.S. increased in 2020 for the first time in over a decade, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Jan. 22, the same day as President Joe Biden announced two new executive orders aimed at increasing worker protections. In 2020, 10.8% of American workers belonged to a union, up from 10.3% in 2019, the new BLS report found. Still, the picture is far ... read more
    TIME Magazine2021-01-22
    8 hours ago
  • Right Wing Round-Up: Prophecy and Accountability
    Chuck Lindell @ The Austin American-Statesman: Texas Supreme Court: Alex Jones, InfoWars can be sued by Sandy Hook parents. Lachlan Markay @ Axios: Trump ally Matt Schlapp got $750k in unsuccessful pardon push. Colby Hall @ Mediaite: Newt Gingrich Tells Hannity that Democrats Want to ‘Exterminate’ Republicans. David Badash @ The New Civil Rights Movement: QAnon Congresswoman Announces ‘I’ve Just Filed Articles of Impeachment’ on Joe Biden – Over Debunked Conspiracy Theory. Michael Brown @ Charisma: A Strong Appeal to Those Who Prophesied Trump’s Reelection. Media Matters: Fox News host Mark Levin launches vulgar, sexist attack at Speaker Nancy ... read more
    Right Wing Watch2021-01-22
    8 hours ago
  • Right Wing Bonus Tracks: Complicit in Evil
    Mario Murillo says that any Christian leader who congratulates President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will be complicit in “the evil that comes upon this nation.” That is bad news for Richard Land, who recently wrote an open letter to Biden: “Mr. President, please allow me to congratulate you on behalf of millions of Evangelicals on having been elected to serve in the highest political office in the land.” We do have to say that it’s odd for Land to be congratulating Biden, given that he has repeatedly declared that having a Democrat in the Oval Office ... read more
    Right Wing Watch2021-01-22
    8 hours ago
Featured
Trump to begin publishing weekly list of immigrant crimes; Hitler did the same with Jewish people

Trump to begin publishing weekly list of immigrant crimes; Hitler did the same with Jewish people

The List

The List

After just two weeks on the job, President Trump to go on Florida vacation costing taxpayers $3 million

After just two weeks on the job, President Trump to go on Florida vacation costing taxpayers $3 million

UCLA Study: Why conservatives are more likely than liberals to believe false information about threats

UCLA Study: Why conservatives are more likely than liberals to believe false information about threats

An uneasy new era for scientists

An uneasy new era for scientists

Don’t Miss
SNL -  VP Debate

SNL - VP Debate

Oct 9th, 2016 0
Net Neutrality: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Net Neutrality: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Jun 1st, 2014 0
Scenes From Deplorable America: Some Trump Supporters Are Putting Their Bigotry on Full Display

Scenes From Deplorable America: Some Trump Supporters Are Putting Their Bigotry on Full Display

Jan 20th, 2017 0
Newsweek: Trump’s ‘uncontrollable’ tweeting spreads ‘wreckage and confusion’

Newsweek: Trump’s ‘uncontrollable’ tweeting spreads ‘wreckage and confusion’

Jan 14th, 2017 0
SNL -  Vladimir Putin

SNL - Vladimir Putin

Jan 22nd, 2017 0
© KnowPolitical 2017. All rights reserved.