Looks the White House wanted to beat Rachel Maddow to the punch. Earlier today, Maddow tweeted she got her hands on Trump's 2005 tax returns, The White House responded saying she was "desperate for ratings" yet, her show was #1 in ratings last week.
Via NYPost
The White House says President Donald Trump made more than $150 million in income in 2005 and paid $38 million in income taxes that year.
The acknowledgement came as MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said she has obtained part of Trump’s 2005 tax forms, and prepared to discuss the document on her Tuesday night show.
The records have become highly sought-after because Trump refused to release his returns during the campaign, breaking a decades-long tradition. He claimed he was under audit.
The White House pushed back pre-emptively Tuesday night, saying that publishing those returns would be illegal.
“You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago,” the White House said in a statement.
Trump long insisted the American public wasn’t interested in his returns and said little could be learned from them. But Trump’s full returns would contain key details about things like his charitable giving and how much he made each year.
The issue a major point of attack from his rival Hillary Clinton, who suggested Trump had something to hide.