The president of the conservative group Citizens United ripped Mitt Romney on Thursday for suggesting that Donald Trump is withholding his tax returns because he is hiding information that could be politically damaging.
David Bossie called the 2012 Republican presidential nominee “pathetic” for saying that the front-runner for the GOP’s 2016 nomination has an obligation to release his tax returns so that voters can consider the information in their decision. He also criticized Romney’s assertion that Trump’s tax forms would reveal a “bombshell” that could hamper Trump’s electoral prospects.
“I’m incredibly disappointed, but not surprised, by the incredibly low blow that Mitt Romney tried to perpetrate on all of the candidates, but specifically Donald Trump,” Bossie said Thursday in a telephone interview with the Washington Examiner. “Whether it’s a jealousy issue or simply hubris, something is motivating Mitt Romney to attack the possible Republican nominee. If somebody had done that to him … oh, that’s right, they did, and he complained like a child about it.”
Bossie said he is neutral in the Republican presidential primary.
Romney, who made millions of dollars in business before going into politics and being elected governor of Massachusetts, was attacked relentlessly about releasing his tax returns during the 2012 campaign. At the time, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused Romney of withholding his tax returns because they would reveal that he paid little in taxes.
Romney cried foul and eventually released five years of returns. But his delay, and his decision not to release more years of returns, cost him politically.
In interviews this week, Romney said all of the Republican presidential candidates should release their tax returns, and indicated that they should do so to avoid political blowback. But he clearly singled out Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul and reality television star, for extra scrutiny.
“We have good reason to believe that there’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes,” Romney told Fox News. “Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is, or he hasn’t been paying taxes we would expect him to pay or perhaps he hasn’t been giving money to vets or to the disabled like he’s been telling us he’s been doing.”
Trump has refuted the charge and responded by mocking Romney on twitter as a failed politician who should have easily beaten President Obama four years ago. Yet Trump also conceded in an interview with CNN that he might not release any of his tax returns. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Trump two closest competitors, have said they plan to release their returns.
Bossie said Romney is “very smart” and knows exactly what he’s doing. He speculated that Romney could be acting on behalf of Republicans who oppose Trump, and is purposely injecting this issue into the media cycle on the eve of Thursday’s GOP presidential debate in Houston to get debate moderators to ask Trump about his tax returns.
Bossie said Romney should spend his time urging Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to publicize the transcripts of paid speeches she gave after she stepped down as secretary of state.
This “shows the level of anger and resentment he holds toward Donald Trump. He’s not doing it for the good of the party,” Bossie said.
