Trump: ‘Russian Oligarchs’ Secret May Be Reason Tax Returns Not Shared Says George Will [Video]

Recently converted former Republican, independent political columnist George Will, as reported by CNN, has issued a possible reason for the failure to issue copies of tax returns on the part of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump: “Russian oligarchs,” as reported by Fox News at the Democratic National Convention, via Bruce Willas on YouTube.

Fox News host Bret Baier asked George Will to comment on the speculated connection between the campaign of Donald Trump and Russia.

“This is the sort of thing… perhaps one more reason that we’re not seeing his [Trump’s] tax returns is because he is deeply involved with Russian oligarchs and others. Good, bad, or different, it’s probably a reasonable surmise.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv8Iv8nkjqU

Baier responded to Will’s speculation with an anecdote comparing the Trump tax return questions with Democrat Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server scandal.

“I think what we’re going to see tonight,” Will stated with regard to the DNC, “is that this is no longer Bill Clinton’s party. This is his wife’s party and it’s very different… In 1996, in the State of the Union Address, Bill Clinton said ‘The era of big government is over.’ Twenty years later, in every particular, they want to expand the range of government.”

Will’s speculation about Donald Trump’s tax returns potentially revealing his ties to Russian oligarchs or others in Russia, comes amid reports that Russian hackers are behind the WikiLeaks dump of Democratic National Committee emails demonstrating an orchestrated effort by party officials to quash the Bernie Sanders campaign and push Hillary Clinton’s, as reported by the Inquisitr.

That the publishing of such wildly controversial emails on the part of WikiLeaks came at such a critical juncture, just prior to the start of the 2016 DNC, has further fueled the suspicions of a possible Donald Trump-Russian connection. Russian President Vladimir Putin has developed a reputation for interfering in the politics of other countries — he has also been described as “enthusiastically” supporting the Brexit vote and maintaining an ongoing campaign to “undermine” the European Union. It has been noted that Donald Trump, like Putin, “vociferously” supported the vote for the United Kingdom to withdrawal from the Union.

That Putin may have such plans for the 2016 U.S. presidential elections is likely not unreasonable to suspect.

Further, Trump is reported to be “blackballed” from borrowing money from major banks in the United States and to have become “dependent” on Russian financiers, “oligarchs and sub-garchs,” with close relations to Vladimir Putin.

Donald Trump has spoken admiringly of Putin throughout his presidential run, likely not helping to quell speculation about his ties to Russia.

After joining the Republican Party in the early 1960s, George Will renounced his membership in June. He has described being influenced by Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater when he first joined the party in 1964.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Fox News and Washington Post contributor cited Trump’s attacks on Judge Gonzalo Curiel and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s subsequent endorsement of him as convincing him that he no longer wanted to be a Republican.

George Will, one of the most overrated political pundits (who lost his way long ago), has left the Republican Party.He's made many bad calls

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2016

Donald Trump tweeted that George Will was “overrated.”

Will responded that Donald Trump holds an advantage when communicating via Twitter, because the GOP nominee can squeeze “everything he knows” on a topic into 140 characters, and that he lacks that particular ability. He also stated that he has left the Republican party for the same reason he joined it in 1964, because he is a “conservative.”

Speaking at the Federalist Society in early June, George Will stated that Donald Trump winning the presidential race and standing unopposed by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives would be a situation “worse” than the country being led by Hillary Clinton.

[Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images]