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NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Thursday 9 August 2012
“The missing evidence is in Romney's grasp, yet he insists that he will never produce it.”
The ‘Missing Evidence’ in Romney’s Tax Records
Harry Reid has provoked outrage among liberals as well as conservatives, who seem to believe he has violated propriety by repeating gossip about Mitt Romney's taxes. The Senate leader says someone connected with Romney told him that the Republican candidate paid no income taxes for a period of 10 years. Offended by Reid's audacity, commentators on the right have indicted him for "McCarthyism," while others on the left have accused him of inventing the whole story.
Evidently the chief complaint against Reid — aside from aggressiveness unbecoming a Democrat — is that he cited "an extremely credible source" who he has so far declined to name. Some journalists have gone so far as to suggest that Reid must be lying because he won't identify the source.
Despite all this righteous tut-tutting among the great and the good, in newspapers and magazines as well as on television, Reid's critics simply have no way of knowing whether he is telling the truth or not. From the beginning, Reid himself admitted forthrightly that he has no way of being absolutely certain whether what he was told is factual or not, although he believes the person who said it was being truthful.
Many of Reid's critics work for news outlets that rely on unnamed sources every day, of course, publishing assertions that range from the mundane to the outlandish. It is hard to see why an unnamed source quoted by a daily newspaper or a monthly magazine — or hidden behind a screen in a TV studio — is more credible than a person whispering in the ear of a United States Senator.
Indeed, several of the news outlets now barking at Reid have suffered their own episodes of scandalous embarrassment owing to the exposure of invented sources and quotes(see Jayson Blair, Stephen Glass, etc. etc. etc.). Yet they nevertheless continue to publish quotes from such unnamed individuals. After all, where else would Reid have learned that this is acceptable conduct?
Meanwhile, Romney's response is to demand that Reid "put up or shut up" — that is, reveal the name of his source. But that would prove nothing. As Reid has pointed out, only the former Bain executive can demonstrate conclusively that suspicions about his tax history are unfounded. Although the irritated Romney retorts that he has "paid a lot of taxes," his denial won't suffice as proof either. He could have paid hefty real estate taxes on his various homes and sales taxes on his purchases of cars, car elevators, powerboats, and other luxury goods, among other levies, while paying little or no federal income tax.
Obviously, it would be simple for Romney to disprove Reid's statement, which is unlike McCarthyite accusations that involve someone's personal associations or state of mind. The necessary evidence is not only within Romney's possession but is also material that candidates in his position normally release to the public and that the public expects to see. It is material that he previously surrendered to Senator John McCain's campaign staff in 2008, when they were vetting him for a possible vice presidential nomination. (For now, they are conspicuously silent on the Reid controversy.)
There is a legal doctrine that applies to Romney's current behavior, as Indiana attorney John Sullivan points out — and it doesn't place the burden of proof on Reid:
At law, if a person in control of evidence refuses to produce the evidence, then the jury is instructed that there is a presumption that the evidence would be against the party failing to produce. It is called the "Missing Evidence" instruction.
The missing evidence is in Romney's grasp, yet he insists that he will never produce it. Does anyone need instruction from a judge to make the correct inference?
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By Aviva Shen
23 comments on "The ‘Missing Evidence’ in Romney’s Tax Records"
August 11, 2012 10:07am
Hey Mitt, cut the shit. Show us Da Money!
The market goes up 1/2% and you make another million. The economy might be suffering, but not for you.
August 10, 2012 6:57am
IF Romney DID pay taxes he can PROVE it by releasing his Tax Returns just as his father did or any other Presidential Candidate.
The Fact that Romney does not release his tax return strongly indicate that he in fact did not pay ANY taxes at all.
Harry Reid is the only one to have the guts to speak the truth about this and he also have a source.
THIS IS ALL IN ROMNEY'S COURT NOW
Romney is the one that should Provide evidence that he has paid taxes.
If he does not Harry Reid is telling the truth
Btw Why is it that a Presidential candidate like Romney does not have the courage to show what he did and what kind of person he is.
Paying no taxes, outsourcing jobs, stealing pension funds,
August 10, 2012 5:34am
With all the innuendo, claims, hearsay etc, etc, I don't see the problem with following the McCain search for his running mate and chose Palin, yeah remember her (Palin what a loser), over Romney. Speaks volumes. As far as him giving his word or swearing to god he wouldn't lie, take him at his word, by the way which god is that???????????????? The republican/conservative people have put up another loser after they crashed and burned with McCain/Palin and would like to rethink this choice............. poor babies........ don't choke on the silver spoon in your mouths......... grin and bear it..... a waste of time, ideology, all the money in the world after buying the supreme court, and a failed trickle down BS song and dance. Let the votes tell the truth as Romney slithers back into his hole......... sorry people you do not have the right choice this time either.
August 09, 2012 11:05pm
Romney's problem is the charge makes sense, based upon his identified behavior.
August 09, 2012 7:38pm
Those on the left should shut their collective mouths for once and work as a party. It would be a breath of fresh air to see them work as a team for once like the republicans do and not fight their own leaders like these rats do. Is it any wonder they fail and lose so much? They can not even stand together on anything. These party traitors need to go stand with the republicans if that is how they feel and just quit caucusing with the democrats.
August 09, 2012 5:50pm
Rachel Maddow ran a piece that I don't think is getting enough attention. In a former campaign for Mass. Gov., Romney refused to release his tax returns. When his residency was challenged, Romney piously said he paid taxes in two states, one of which was Mass. He still refused to release proof and demanded people take him at his word. It finally came to pass that he had to release some records to prove he did pay taxes in Mass. It turned out he did, but ONLY AFTER the issue was raised, he filed an amended return. So if he lied then, why assume he has the remaining credibility to issue denials that he has not paid taxes for 10 years. He lied about his taxes once, he obviously has motive to lie again...
August 09, 2012 4:47pm
I guess the right can dish it out (Obama's birth certificate,etc.), but can't take it. Go ahead and whine you bunch of silver spooned crybabies. You can't believe a thing Romney says. Proven lies about what Obama said about about McCain (we'll lose if we talk about the economy) to the most recent lie about the welfare exemptions. Come on. Admit it. Your candidate is a bigger liar than ours. Get over it. The black man is going to win again and the white racists heads will explode. Don't they hate a black man power.
August 09, 2012 4:23pm
So if we suggest that, because Romney does not show more tax records than he has to, he has something to hide or call it a "logical conclusion", do we have the same standard for the opposite side? Why are Obamas college records from Occidental sealed? Is he maybe hiding, that he was registered under his indonesian name and as a foreign exchange student? ....at least that's the rumor. The missing evidence is in Obama's grasp, yet he insists that he will never produce it. Does anyone need instruction from a judge to make the correct inference?
The only thing he ever shared about that time, can be found in his book, were he tells us that he preferred black politically active students, structural feminists and marxist Professors as friends....but that's pretty much it...
We also know that he developed a friendship with some Pakistani students while in Occidental and that he travelled with them to Pakistan ...but the records are sealed.
How about his time at Columbia or his time at Harvard? Rumor has it, that he was an outspoken communist/socialist at that time. The missing evidence is in Obama's grasp, yet he insists that he will never produce it. Does anyone need instruction from a judge to make the correct inference?
How about all those campaign donations for Obama from foreign sources? Can we maybe get a clearer picture on those? Rumor has it, that a lot of those came straight from the Gaza strip, the PLO and Hamas. All we know is, they are "foreign donations". The missing evidence is in Obama's grasp, yet he insists that he will never produce it. Does anyone need instruction from a judge to make the correct inference?
We could ofcourse jus forget about the past and talk about the present, like Obama's use of the executive privilege in fast and furious and so many other cases? The missing evidence is in Obama's grasp, yet he insists that he will never produce it. Does anyone need instruction from a judge to make the correct inference?
Obama promised that transparency would be the touchstones of his presidency ....what he delivered was a tumbstone ....what was this about? ...oh yeah...Romney and his taxes ....or better: smokescreens and slander? ...who knows....
August 09, 2012 9:02pm
Rumors? What do you mean, Rumors? These are all clearly stated facts on FUX NEWS!
August 09, 2012 1:23pm
Hmmm
As the government tells us time after time after time when they are demanding to see all of our private papers if you have nothing to hide.......
If he had nothing to hide he would just realise them it is that simple and this entire incident would already by forgotten. Unless of course he does have somthing to hide.....
August 09, 2012 12:41pm
Romney was not chosen to run with McCain. Maybe because the McCain campaign took one look at his tax records and wanted nothing to do with him.
August 09, 2012 12:05pm
While I can't speak to 10 years, Harry Reid is on firm ground when suggesting that Romney probably paid no taxes in prior years. Let me explain: First, we know from the the one year he did release (2010) that he had a "loss carry over" from prior years of about $5000.00. For Mr. Romney, 5 grand is no big deal, but, here is the key, in order to have a Loss-carry-over, you have to have experienced capital losses greater than capital gains. The law also allows you to apply up to $3000.00 of capital loss against ordinary income. Additional capital losses can be carried forward to succeeding years. Mr. Romney has stated, previously, that most of his income in recent years comes from capital gains on his investments. So it is logical to assume that the losses he incurred in 2008 and 2009 (most investors took substancial losses in those years) more than offset any gains he might have had. That he showed a loss carry over is conclusive proof that that is what happened. Therefore, it is likely that he had little or no taxable income in those two years. It is also likely that, with a little creative accounting, that he was able to show little or no taxable income in several prior years. All of this is completely legal, so why is he not disclosing the returns? He would have no trouble explaining these results satisfactrally to the voters and would avoid the negative impact of his continuing secrecy. But then, why does he find it necessary to continously lie about everything when the truth might work as well? How can we, the voters, be expected to trust a person who finds it better to lie and get called out than to tell the truth and stand on solid ground? You be the judge.
August 09, 2012 11:53am
Aren't empty promises and accusations without facts the hallmark of our politics? If we limited candidates/advocates only to factual statements and REAL issues, then people might expect something GOOD from government like peace, stability, accountability, etc.
August 09, 2012 11:17am
Sorry, I agree with the article BUT Reid stupidly said something he could not back up, diverting attention from what is already known about the ill means Romney used to gain his wealth, and the means he used to evade taxes, like all the other wealthy oligarchs. Reid could have frequently made any number of public comments to press the demand for release of returns. He chose to make the one that was stupid, and made himself the distracting issue.
All Romney has to do now is call Reid a liar for a couple months, and then "prove" it just before the election by releasing a copy of ONE LINE on one tax return or ONE CANCELLED CHECK showing he paid anything. Suppose he paid a million in each of a couple years over a ten-year period. All the other damning facts go unrevealed as the corporate media mill tells America Romney paid millions in taxes and Dem leader Reid is proven a liar.
August 09, 2012 11:05am
Willie-boy is sitting on something. My guess is that it is very embarassing. How many times hve we heard the phrase "people are saying" from either party? I say "KUDOS" to Harry Reid. It's about time he acted like the fighter he is reputed to be. Maybe B.O. will take a page from his book. Is it dirty fighting? It very well may be, but the repugnants will kick you in the crotch as soon as look at you. Any political party that would unmask a covert CIA agent is not to be trusted. By the way, where is the haf-guv's outrage about the PA repugnant who referred to B.O. supporters as retarded?
August 09, 2012 11:03am
I think they should play texas holdum and have our president turn over one of his "Sealed never to be revealed"records for each of Romneys tax years. That should prove entertaining...Maybe starting with Columbia school entrance records....
August 09, 2012 10:58am
His tax reports will show if he's a tax cheat or just a user of loopholes, Bush's tax cuts, and offshore accounts to pay zero taxes while the 99% pays through the nose. People want to have an idea who's going to sneak in the WH.
August 09, 2012 10:50am
It would seem to me that a whistle blower in the IRS could leak the last 10 years tax returns for a nominal fee. Doesn't the government have access to these records, along with hundreds of people?
August 09, 2012 5:56pm
Could it be someone in the IRS already has leaked? I think Reid got tipped by somebody on the inside of the IRS and made up the "tip call" to cover his tracks. He seems too cautious to announce what he did without being very sure he had reliable information. Obviously, this would likely be illegal but there have been much worse violations.
August 09, 2012 10:17am
As correctly noted in this article, Romney demands that Reid "put up or shut up". Good demand, but the real person who needs to "put up" his tax records is the son of the fine Michigan GOP governor who did so in the 1960's. If you do not know that story, Google "George Romney Wiki" and read the father's bio. In 1967, he released twelve years of his Federal Tax Returns...and was supported by 30% of the black vote. What a contrast. Sometimes the nut rolls far from the tree.
Are we to assume Romney is vetting potential VP candidates without seeing THEIR Fed Tax returns? What kind of a business does he intend to run, on such terms where personal accountability is acceptably dodged? And at a time where the business of our Federal Government is so lacking in accountability?
My gut sense (which Romney can destroy, when he puts up!) is Willard is more concerned about the Mormon Church discovering he was not meeting the 10% tithe obligation. There is no doubt, given his ability to suck more than a quarter billion from distressed companies, retirement pensions, and other vulture-capital targets he "aided" in his Private Equity "turnarounds", that he did give lots to LDS. But, if he was telling LDS that he gave 10% and then some, but the Federal forms later prove he gave less than 10%, ...well, makes for a very interesting relationship between a church and it's favored son.
Put Up your tax returns, Willard. Level with the people you claim you want to serve...
August 09, 2012 9:55am
This guy is better than any super pac could possibly be. (And cheaper too!)
He has successfully redirected Republican attention from Obama's Achilles' heel. Furthermore, done 'without' the POTUS reelection committee's knowledge or direction.
August 09, 2012 9:28am
Cheers to Harry Reid!
Romney is using this outrage as a faked up smoke screen.
I think the very great likelihood is that he paid no income taxes during the period in question or what he paid was embarrassingly low. Either way, it will hurt him in the eyes of the voter.
I agree, the burden is not on Reid.
We know from Romney's political advertisements that he doesn't consider honesty a virtue.
August 09, 2012 9:08am
You almost have to wonder if Willard is deliberately withholding his tax records from public scrutiny because he's afraid the media would have little else to report about him. He is that bland.
Since his own father set the standard for candidates to reveal their tax records, can we really believe that Mitt's being stubbornly coy because he's rebelling against his father's image? Or isn't it more likely that he DOES have something to hide?
He could make the issue disappear if he just produced his records, like his dad did. And he knows that, right? So why won't he do it? Then he could focus on smearing the president from now until Election Day. That seems to be his favorite "policy," since he'll reveal little else about what he believes or would do (except repeal Obamacare, of course). In fact, he's so evasive about these things, along with his tax records, that maybe he's trying to spice up his blandness as a "man of mystery."
Thankfully, I don't think that will save his bacon. He's so phony he can't convince anyone but the fuming Obama-haters, and they'd vote for anything on two legs who ran against the President, so they're beyond reason. They vote from the Gut, as Charles Pierce would say, and not the Brain.