MSNBC's Rachel Maddow had the highest ratings in the history of her program on Tuesday after hyping on Twitter she was in possession of "Trump's tax returns" about 90 minutes before the show aired.

BREAKING: We've got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC.



(Seriously). — Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 14, 2017

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When including the broadcast networks, Maddow had the third most-watched program in all of television on Tuesday, only behind the NBC hit "This is Us" and CBS's "NCIS: New Orleans."

The White House confirmed just before Maddow's program that the documents were authentic while slamming Maddow for releasing the documents and being "desperate for ratings."



Trump is the first president in decades to not publicly release his tax returns. He has said he would not release them while he is being audited by the IRS, but the IRS has noted that an audit would not prevent anyone from releasing the information on their own.

The hyped release on Maddow's show was widely mocked by media members on the left and right.

Imagine Geraldo's regret when he opened Al Capone's vault to find Rachel Maddow's report on Trump's taxes. pic.twitter.com/RH3FRZtV66 — Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 15, 2017

Rachel Maddow announces she will release Donald Trump’s tax returns as a 10-episode Netflix series. — Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) March 15, 2017

if you have news, Rachel, please tell us. soon. I'm not young. — Bob Ley (@BobLeyESPN) March 15, 2017

.@VanJones68: If all we get tonight is that Trump paid $38M to America's government, that's a good night for Trump https://t.co/kvYlq8udPf — Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) March 15, 2017

MADDOW: ...and here they are, the returns which we have so badly wanted for the reasons I explai-- [two small children burst onto the set] — Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) March 15, 2017

Rachel Maddow's next big TV spectacular will be Donald Trumps 1997 dental records. #TrumpTaxReturn — MARK SIMONE (@MarkSimoneNY) March 15, 2017

the NYT had a much bigger Trump tax scoop with much less annoying wind-up and irresponsible and unhelpful speculation — Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) March 15, 2017

Geraldo Rivera's infamous and highly promoted opening of the late Al Capone's empty vault live was watched by nearly 30 million people back in 1986.