A top aide to Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Republican presidential nominee “will not be releasing” his taxes.
“Mr. Trump has said that his taxes are under audit and he will not be releasing them,” Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort told “CBS This Morning.”
{mosads}”It has nothing to do with Russia, it has nothing to do with any country other than the United States and his normal tax auditing process,” Manafort added.
Trump has pushed back in recent months on calls from Democrats and some Republicans, namely former GOP nominee Mitt Romney, to release his tax returns.
Conservative columnist George Will this week argued Trump doesn’t want to release his taxes because they show “he is deeply involved in dealing with Russia oligarchs.”
“So to be clear, Mr. Trump has no financial relationships with any Russian oligarchs?” CBS’s Norah O’Donnell asked Manafort.
“That’s what he said, that’s what I said,” Manafort responded. “That’s obviously what our position is.”
Hillary Clinton’s campaign has gone after Trump’s comments on Russian President Vladimir Putin this week in the wake of a hack on the Democratic National Committe. Emails pilfered in the hack, which were provided to Wikileaks, revealed Democratic infighting on the eve of the party’s national convention.
Democratic officials have linked the cyberattack to Russian actors, claiming they want to influence the U.S. election given the timing of the release.