Donald Trump has promised to release his tax returns since he first announced his candidacy in 2015. Since he made the promise, he has postponed releasing the information many times, claiming he must wait until the IRS completes their audit. However, Trump’s senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, announced on Sunday that Trump will not be releasing his tax information.
Conway told ABC News, “The White House Response is that he’s not going to release his tax returns…. Most Americans are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office, not what his look like.” Her comment received support from some people and outrage from others. Many Americans have been waiting for almost two years to see Trump’s tax returns, and now it appears that he never intended on releasing them at all.
Shortly after Conway’s appearance on ABC News, WikiLeaks became involved in the situation. They tweeted, “Trump’s breach of promise over the release of his tax returns is even more gratuitous than Clinton concealing her Goldman Sachs transcripts.” They also encouraged anyone with any information to submit it to WikiLeaks so they can expose him.
A petition requesting that Trump release his tax returns was created shortly after Trump’s inauguration, and it has already been signed by 100,000 people, which is enough to require an official response from the federal government. The encouragement of the American people may be enough to persuade the Trump administration to release the information. If they still refuse to release the tax returns, WikiLeaks may be able to obtain and share the information themselves.