Donald Trump just renewed his vow of opacity.
Asked by ABC News’ David Muir on Monday afternoon whether he’d be releasing his income-tax returns, as every other major-party presidential nominee has done for 40 years, Trump brushed off the inquiry.
“I think people don’t care,” the GOP nominee declared.
No? A Quinnipiac University poll two weeks ago found that 74 percent of likely voters, including 62 percent of Republicans, think Trump should release his tax returns. And for those Americans who don’t care, there’s more evidence every day that they should. As Trump was again dismissing the tax-return matter, The Washington Post that afternoon published an extensive report by Dana Priest, Ellen Nakashima and Tom Hamburger laying out what U.S. intelligence officials believe is “a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming presidential election and in U.S. political institutions.”
If Vladimir Putin’s government — believed to be behind cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee and state election operations — has an “ambitious” plan to influence the election, it stands to reason that Putin would like to influence the candidates. Trump and his advisers have taken a strikingly pro-Putin line, and Trump and his advisers also have had extensive financial ties to Russia. There’s one sure way to know how beholden Trump is to Putin’s regime: release his tax returns.
This doesn’t mean Trump is some sort of Manchurian Candidate in cahoots with Putin. But it’s bad enough if a President Trump were to feel pressure to tilt in Russia’s favor because he was indebted to Putin-allied investors. Trump dismisses the possibility as nonsense — so why won’t he come clean with his taxes?