Romney: ‘Moronic’ for Dems to go after Trump’s tax returns with legislative action

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Sunday called Democrats “moronic” for attempting to obtain President Trump’s tax returns through legislative action.

Romney added, however, that he wishes Trump would publicly release his tax returns.

“[Trump] said he would be happy to release his returns. So I wish he’d do that. But I have to also tell you I think the Democrats are just playing along his handbook, which is, going after his tax returns through legislative action is moronic,” he said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

{mosads}”That’s not going to happen,” Romney continued. “The courts are not going to say that you can compel a person running for office to release their tax returns. He’s going to win this victory.”

WATCH: Sen. Mitt Romney says, “I’d like the president to follow through and show his tax returns” but thinks Democrats are playing into his hands. #MTP #IfItsSunday@SenatorRomney: “Going after his tax returns through a legislative action is moronic. That’s not going to happen” pic.twitter.com/7c99bWUEKo

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 7, 2019

House Democrats last week formally requested Trump’s tax returns, with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) asking IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig to turn over six years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns. Neal cited Section 6103 of the federal tax code, which permits Congress’s tax committees to view tax information of any filer in a closed session. 

A personal attorney to Trump responded by urging the IRS not to release the returns, arguing that doing so would be illegal.

Romney, a former GOP presidential nominee who has quarreled with Trump in the past, has previously pushed for the president to release his tax returns and said during the 2016 campaign that there was a “good reason to believe” that there was a “bombshell” in Trump’s taxes.

“Frankly, I think we have a good reason to believe that there’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes,” he said at the time. 

Read more from The Hill:

Mulvaney: Democrats will ‘never’ see Trump’s tax returns