Media

Krauthammer: Issue of Trump releasing tax returns is ‘a dead parrot’

by Joe Concha - 04/18/17 2:53 PM ET

Fox News’s Charles Krauthammer says the issue of President Trump releasing his tax returns “is dead” despite calls from Democratic lawmakers and organized rallies.

“Never,” Krauthammer said when asked on Monday night by “Special Report” host Bret Baier if Trump will ever release his tax returns.

{mosads}”This issue is dead. It’s a dead parrot.”

Trump’s tax information, and those of Vice President Pence, will be audited every year he is in office. The practice is known as a “mandatory examination” and has been in place since the Watergate era, according to the IRS.

Mollie Hemingway, a senior editor at the Federalist online magazine, said Trump’s tax returns are important for the American people to see in order to “determine whether there are conflicts of interest.”

“People need to understand where money is coming from to determine whether there are conflicts of interest, particularly for someone who had so many conflicts,” said Hemingway, who signed on as a Fox News contributor last month.

But Hemingway also noted that MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow’s hyped release of Trump’s 2005 Form 1040 ended up showing Trump paying a relatively high tax rate that year. Hemingway said the news “took the air out of that balloon.”

BREAKING: We’ve got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC.

(Seriously).

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 14, 2017

“People saw he was paying taxes, at least that one year at a high-dollar amount, and just I don’t think the energy is there anymore,” she said.

Trump has pushed back strongly on releasing his tax returns as recently as Sunday. He has long said he won’t release them while he is under audit, even though no IRS rule prevents him from doing so.

Democratic lawmakers have made efforts in Congress to force votes concerning Trump’s taxes which the GOP have blocked. This past weekend, in the run-up to Tax Day, included public demonstrations over the issue around the country.

I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College! Now Tax Returns are brought up again?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017

Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017