“Politically, I think that would help him,” Ron Paul says of the tax returns. Ron Paul to Mitt: Release tax returns

Texas Rep. Ron Paul said Tuesday that Mitt Romney should release more of his tax returns, adding to the pressure on the GOP nominee to share personal financial information with the public.

“Politically, I think that would help him,” the Republican congressman and former presidential candidate said in an interview with POLITICO. “In the scheme of things politically, you know, it looks like releasing tax returns is what the people want.”


( Also on POLITICO: Do Americans care about tax returns?)

The Obama camp has been pummeling the former Massachusetts governor over his refusal to release more years of tax returns as a part of its larger effort to paint Romney as a wealthy businessman out of touch with the middle class. Romney’s campaign has said that the issue of his taxes is a distraction from the debate over Obama’s economic record.

“Tax havens, offshore accounts, carried interest: Mitt Romney has used every trick in the book. Romney admits that over the last two years, he’s paid less than 15 percent in taxes on $43 million in income. Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all,” the latest Obama ad says.

With the attacks mounting, a number of prominent conservatives voices — including Bill Kristol and George Will — have urged Romney to hand over his tax returns and put an end to the controversy.

Paul on Tuesday agreed with that advice, saying Romney’s tax returns have become too much of a distraction.

“It’s a shame. The important issue is [what] the two candidates seem to agree on. They don’t really disagree with militarism overseas, they don’t disagree with the Federal Reserve system and the bailouts, and they don’t disagree on basically whether the role of federal government is wealth redistribution through welfare. So instead, they’re talking about tax returns and that to me is so disappointing,” he said. “It’s all a charade, I think it’s all contrived to not have a debate.”

Asked to speculate on why Romney has so far refused to hand over more returns, Paul replied, “I have no idea.”

The Texas congressman, who is retiring at the end of the year, also said the Romney campaign has not asked him to speak at the Republican National Convention.

“Not that I know of. No, I haven’t been invited to do that,” he said.