2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Wednesday on Fox News there is good reason to believe there is a "bombshell" to be found in Donald Trump's back taxes.
Asked by host Neil Cavuto why he hadn't officially backed a Republican for the 2016 nomination, Romney said he would like to see the back taxes from several of the candidates. Taxes were a sore spot for Romney in 2012, with then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) publicly accusing him of not even paying them.
"This will give us a real sense of whether these people are on the up and up and whether they've been telling us things about themselves that are true or not," Romney said. "Frankly, I think we have good reason to believe that there's a bombshell in Donald Trump's taxes."
"What do you mean?" Cavuto asked.
"I think there's something there," Romney said. "Either he's not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is or he hasn't been paying the kind of taxes we would expect him to pay, or perhaps he hasn't been giving money to the vets or to the disabled like he's been telling us he's been doing, and the reason that I think there's a bombshell in there is because every time he's asked about his taxes he dodges and delays and says, well, we're working on it."
Romney said voters have a right to see the tax returns from the nominees before making their choice. Later, Cavuto asked if by using the word "bombshell," Romney was truly questioning whether Trump had been truthful about helping veterans.
‘It's very possible," he said. "You know, Donald Trump has said he's the best in the country for the disabled veterans and for the disabled generally. Well, if his taxes show that he hasn't made any contributions to the disabled veterans, or to the disabled generally, that would be a big issue. I'm not saying that's the case. I have no evidence of that, but I'm just saying there are things that could be issues, and when people decide they don't want to give you their taxes, it's usually because there's something they don't want you to see."