Progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on the Senate floor Thursday that Donald Trump is “too chicken” to release his tax returns before the November election.
“Now Donald Trump makes a big show of strutting around pretending to be tough, but he’s too chicken to show his tax returns to the American people,” she said.
Warren said she took to the floor to advocate for the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, which would require all candidates to release their tax returns. She said voters “should see Donald Trump’s tax returns so they can decide for themselves if his shameful and in some cases illegal behavior disqualifies him from being president.”
The Republican presidential nominee has long said that he will release his records upon the completion of an Internal Revenue Service audit. The IRS has said it doesn’t talk publicly about individual audits it might be conducting, but has said an audit wouldn’t preclude Trump from releasing his returns.
“He’s had a million excuses but we all know why Donald Trump isn’t releasing his taxes. He’s hiding something,” Warren said, she said that thanks to experts and reports, at least “some of his secrets are leaking to the public and they are not pretty.”
“Would his tax returns show how deeply Donald Trump’s personal financial interests run directly counter to the national interest of the United States of America?” she asked.
Pointing to his willingness to accommodate foreign leaders, Warren said, “maybe Trump’s next business will be Airbnb for dictators.”
