Shouldn’t Trump release his latest tax returns right now?

Donald Trump’s history of unfortunate money-making took a disturbing turn in March when the former president began selling the “God Bless the USA Bible,” offering customers the opportunity to purchase “the only Bible endorsed by President Trump” for just $59.99.

It was a predictably successful venture: The cash-strapped Republican earned $300,000 from the branded bibles. We know this from a disclosure statement on his personal finances that Team Trump released almost two weeks ago. A CNN report on the documents states:

Given all this, one question remains that is often left unasked: Shouldn’t Trump release his latest tax returns right now?

Of course, I am aware of the larger situation. In May 2014 – more than a decade ago – Trump promised to release his tax returns if he became a candidate. “If I decide to run for office, I will definitely release my tax returns,” the Republican said the year before his ride on the golden escalator. “And I would like to do that.”

In the years that followed, Trump ignored modern bipartisan traditions, kept his tax returns secret, broke numerous promises of transparency, and fought tooth and nail to keep the information hidden from the public. Through leaks and court rulings, Americans eventually learned details that were not exactly flattering for the former president.

But now that Trump is running for the third consecutive Republican nomination, shouldn’t this question be back in the foreground? Shouldn’t the Republican candidate at least face the question of whether he will release his tax returns – even if we know the answer will be no?

Often, questions to which we know the answers go unasked, but that doesn’t mean the questions themselves are worthless. Simply not asking Trump for his most recent tax returns — and thereby leading him to make another round of dubious claims about tax audits that are likely fabricated — is baseless leniency for a major-party candidate.

Indeed, the partisan asymmetry matters. On July 21, President Joe Biden announced he was ending his re-election campaign, and a week later, Vice President Kamala Harris released her tax returns for the past 20 years.

Trump could approach transparency in the same way. He has said repeatedly that he would do so. So where are the documents? Why does he insist on keeping his tax returns from the past few years secret?