Obama Camp to Romney: Five Years of Tax Returns and We’ll Lay Off
Published at
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Obama campaign manager Jim Messina has promised the campaign will stop pressing Mitt Romney on his tax returns if the presumptive Republican presidential nominee releases five years of returns.
In a letter to Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades, Messina writes, “Governor Romney apparently fears that the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide. So I am prepared to provide assurances on just that point: if the Governor will release five years of returns, I commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more — neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign.”
The five years Messina is requesting covers “the complete returns for 2007-2012,” which he says “would appropriately span all the years that he has been a candidate for President.”
“It would also help answer outstanding questions raised by the one return he has released to date, such as the range in the effective rates paid, the foreign accounts maintained, the foreign investments made, and the types of tax shelters used,” he continues.
So far, Romney has released his tax returns for 2010 and a preliminary filing for 2011.
“To provide these five years, the Governor would have to release only three more sets of returns in addition to the 2010 return he has released and the 2011 return he has pledged to provide. And, I repeat, the Governor and his campaign can expect in return that we will refrain from questioning whether he has released enough or pressing for more,” Messina concludes.
Rhoades responded to Messina’s letter, saying, “It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney’s tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending.”
“If Governor Romney’s tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for President Obama to discuss them over the next 81 days,” he continued. “In the meantime, Governor Romney will continue to lay out his plans for a stronger middle class, to save Medicare, to put work back into welfare, and help the 23 million Americans struggling to find work in the Obama economy.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio