Senior Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod told ABC News Radio White House correspondent Ann Compton on Thursday he thinks that presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is “the most secretive candidate that we’ve seen, frankly, since Richard Nixon.”
Axelrod complained that Romney “won’t release his tax returns, won’t reveal his bundlers, left Massachusetts with the hard drives from his computer.” Axelrod added, “He believes in keeping the public in the dark.”
According to ABC NEWS Radio:
Axelrod said Romney’s portfolio of offshore investments — which include a Bermuda-based company, funds in the Cayman Islands and a Swiss bank account — raises what he called a “Bermuda Triangle” of financial questions. “Just what were the benefits there? Did he actually pay taxes in some years? We don’t know,” he said. “Why would you transfer your Bermuda business…to your wife the day before you became governor? Why did you not want that on your disclosure form?” Axelrod said later, referring to reports by The Associated Press and Vanity Fair.
When asked directly if he was accusing Romney of cheating on his taxes, Axelrod said no, but did say, “The question is, exactly what did he pay, and I think that he — there’s only one way to answer that question. If you don’t have anything to hide, why not just release that information? And Gov. Romney really doesn’t have a good answer for that.”
During the GOP primary, Newt Gingrich hit Romney for not releasing his tax returns. However, it is terribly ironic for the president’s campaign to be accusing another candidate of being “too secretive.” This is quiet proclamation, especially in the midst of the president throwing an executive order in front of Darrell Issa’s committee to keep fast and furious documents away from Congress.
