Trump: I’ll Release Taxes If Clinton Releases Deleted Emails

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has asserted that he will release his tax returns immediately if Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton produces emails deleted from her private server first.

The business mogul’s statement contradicts his repeated explanation that he cannot release his tax returns because they are currently under IRS audit.

On Sept. 6, Trump issued his challenge to Clinton during an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly.

“When is she going to release her emails?” Trump said. “She probably knows how to find it. Let her release her emails and I will release my tax returns immediately.”

Moments before, the GOP nominee said that he would release his returns after his audit was completed, but added “I don’t know when that’s going to be.”

Clinton had used a private email server while serving as Secretary of State.

During an FBI investigation into whether or not the arrangement had compromised national security, it was discovered that 30,000 emails on the server that Clinton had deemed personal had been deleted, according to Business Insider.

It is unclear how Clinton could produce emails that have already been deleted.

Trump, on the other hand, has maintained that he cannot release his tax returns because he is under audit. The IRS has already announced that undergoing an audit does not restrict an individual from publicly disclosing returns.

Ever major party nominee has made their tax returns available to the public for the past four decades. The precedent was established by former President Richard Nixon, who had actually been undergoing an audit when he released his tax returns.

Trump’s returns could allow the American public to know the extent of his wealth, how much he has donated to charity, how much he pays in taxes, and with whom he has done business.

On Sept. 5, Trump told ABC News that he believed that his tax returns were not an important issue.

“I think people don’t care,” Trump said. “I don’t think anybody cares, except some members of the press.”

On Sept. 6, Clinton told reporters that Trump was wrong to believe that voters do not care about his tax returns, CBS News reports.

“I just think he is dead wrong,” Clinton said.

The Democratic nominee suggested that Trump has declined to release his returns because they would reveal unflattering details that could damage his campaign.

“The list goes on and on, the scams, the frauds, the questionable relationships,” Clinton said of Trump. “Clearly, his tax returns tell a story that the American people deserve and need to know.”

Sources: ABC News, Business Insider, CBS News, Fox News, The Huffington Post / Photo credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr