Reid: No apology for Romney comment

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., last week walked back the explosive charge he made during the 2012 presidential campaign that Republican candidate Mitt Romney “hasn’t paid any taxes for 10 years.”

But Reid said he remains unapologetic because the comment served to make a point that the GOP contender was refusing to make public his tax returns.

“Of course he paid taxes,” Reid said in an interview with Jorge Ramos of Univision. “What he didn’t do is let us see his tax returns.

“I have no repentance, because it was an issue that was important,” Reid said. “This has been an issue of mine for a long time.”

Reid has been asked about the episode in rounds of interviews he has given since he announced his plan to retire when his term expires.

The charge leveled on the Senate floor in August 2012 by the then-Senate majority leader caught the nation’s attention and dominated the campaign for a short period.

Reid said then that he was given the information by several sources, but provided no further evidence. Without the backup, media fact-checkers rated the accusation as untruthful. But Democratic partisans cheered while Republicans seethed. Talking with CNN a week ago, Reid shrugged when asked about the accusation.

“Romney didn’t win, did he?” he said.

Reid told Ramos the Romney tax accusation “has been blown way out of proportion, but blown my way” because it focused attention on the Republican, a millionaire who Reid said was afraid to open his books.

Romney insisted he had paid taxes, but Reid said “that’s a phony answer” without the actual paperwork as proof.

“So, no apologies to Mitt Romney?” Ramos asked.

“Oh none whatsoever, zero, none,” Reid said. “Because he had the opportunity at any time” to release his tax returns. “But he was afraid to.”

Romney in September 2012 ended up releasing his 2011 federal return that showed he paid taxes at a rate of 14 percent. Beyond that, his accountants released limited information about taxes paid from 1990 through 2009.

“Listen, there’s still an easy way to resolve this,” Reid said. “Let him give us his tax returns.”

Contact Steve Tetreault at stetreault@reviewjournal.com or 202-783-1760.