Larry Flint: Mitt, Show us Your Tax Returns. Romney: Why Won’t This Go Away?

The illustrious publisher of Hustler Larry Flint (also known as ‘the smut peddler who cares’) is looking to give up to $1 million dollars to one lucky person, and it could be you, if you have information about what Mitt Romney is hiding in his tax returns.   In a full page advertisement taken out in this past Sunday’s Washington Post, Flint and Hustler Magazine are offering money for  “…information about Mitt Romney’s unreleased tax returns and / or details of his offshore assets, bank accounts and business partnerships.  What is he hiding?”

Courtesy:  Washington Post

Romney hasn’t released anything aside from his 2011 and 2010 tax returns and Flint wants to know what he’s got there.  Flint feels that all of this should be public record for a man running for the most public of offices.  Flint will be running the ad again on September 11^th in USA Today. 

This call from Flint comes only a few days after an alleged leak from the Tennessee offices of Romeny’s accountants, Price Waterhouse Cooper.  PwC of course disputes any leak occurred and that Romney’s and everyone else’s records are safe and secure.  RT.com reports that an encrypted file containing Romney’s tax information will be distributed to the media this month.  “The person allegedly in possession of the files… has said that they will provide the material to any source willing to pay $1,000,000,” including the Romney campaign.  The Secret Service has stated that they are in fact investigating the unverified claim of the leak and alleged blackmail.  It seems Flint is willing to pay if the information is good.

While this may turn out to be simply rumor, it remains one more example of how people still don’t feel they know Romney enough.  The fact that he is refusing to show tax returns prior to 2010 makes him look culpable of something in the eyes of America – something that is not helping his cause.  Looking at his poll numbers today, with as much as he has slipped, just the publicity surrounding this escapade could be enough to have him trail Obama even more.  It would behoove Romney to release a bit more information about himself so that people can move on from this issue at least.  If not, this will hang over his head until election day.