| Dear 5849376, Recent reports of Donald Trump's financial ties to Russian oligarchs aligned with Vladimir Putin,1 combined with his encouragement of the Russian government to spy on the United States, have brought renewed attention to Trump's failure to release his tax returns, and renewed questions about what Trump may be trying to hide. Since the start of his campaign, Trump has gotten a free pass at every level – from his own party and more importantly from the corporate media that has lavished him with free media and attention around the clock. That free pass has to end now. Tell Donald Trump: You must release your tax returns. Click here to sign the petition. Releasing tax returns is something that every presidential candidate has done for the past 40 years, but Trump still refuses to do so. Given his background and history, Trump's wealth and business dealings are the clearest view into his experience and fitness to be president, and now one of the clearest ways to understand if he has relationships or debt with Russian financial interests which could compromise the integrity of a Trump presidency. Trump continues to hide behind a phony excuse that he can't release his tax returns until the IRS finishes auditing him. Recently, his campaign manager doubled down on Trump's refusal to release his returns, using that bogus auditing excuse. But that claim has been repudiated by the IRS itself, and nothing is preventing Trump from releasing multiple years of returns.2 Releasing tax returns is a crucial way for a presidential candidate to assure the public that he or she has no conflicts of interest, particularly with foreign governments like Russia. But with Donald Trump, who has made his business experience the central argument for his candidacy, the release of his tax returns are even more crucial. These returns need to be out in the open for Americans to see, and we need to force the issue right now. Tell Donald Trump: You must release your tax returns. Click here to sign the petition. Recent financial disclosures made by Trump have already revealed the tremendous profits he has earned from companies whose policies he attacks.3 Trump's tax returns are sure to reveal even more hypocrisy. Americans need to get the truth about Trump's business dealings, his claims of extreme wealth, how he truly makes his money, what tax loopholes he is using to dodge taxes, the tax rate he actually pays, his ties to Russia, and how his tax plan would benefit him personally. We can't let Trump get another free pass on his dangerous and destructive path to the presidency.
Tell Donald Trump: You must release your tax returns. Click the link below to sign the petition. http://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_taxes_putin?t=7&akid=19281.3291973.upyXum Thank you for your activism, Heidi Hess, Senior Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References Tom Hamburger, Rosalind S. Helderman and Michael Birnbaum, "Inside Trump's financial ties to Russia and his unusual flattery of Vladimir Putin," The Washington Post, June 17, 2016, Peter Stone, David Smith, Ben Jacobs, Alec Luhn and Rupert Neate, "Donald Trump and Russia: a web that grows more tangled all the time," The Guardian, July 30, 2016, and Josh Marshall, "Trump & Putin. Yes, It's Really a Thing," TalkingPointsMemo.com, July 23, 2016. Kevin McCoy and David Jackson, "IRS: Trump can release tax returns, regardless of audit," USA Today, February 26, 2016.
Christina Wilkie, "Donald Trump Profits In Private From The Companies He Trashes In Public," Huffington Post, May 18, 2016.
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