Associated Press: Trump effect? Pa. GOP governor candidates won't show tax returns
The three Republicans running for the party's nomination for Pennsylvania governor say they will not release copies of their tax returns, documents that can shed important light on a candidate's personal priorities and financial standing.
The man they want to beat, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, will release the first two pages of his 2017 tax return and open the rest of it to inspection by reporters, his campaign said.
Most candidates for governor of Pennsylvania have, when asked, released part or all of their federal tax returns, going back at least six campaigns to the 1990s. The Republicans' refusal this year comes after Donald Trump became the first major party nominee for president in 40 years to refuse to release his.
...
"Tax returns give voters important information about a candidate's potential conflicts of interest and, if elected, whether they would personally benefit from the policies they promote," said Brendan Fischer, a lawyer for The Campaign Legal Center.
...
Fischer, of The Campaign Legal Center, said it is "incredibly unfortunate" that Trump broke with decades of tradition and refused to release his tax returns.
"It would be even more unfortunate," Fischer said, "if President Trump's disregard for well-established norms of ethics and transparency were replicated at the state level."