An adviser to US Senate candidate Edward J. Markey said today that he will release his tax returns publicly on Friday, committing to a date after days of fending off pressure from his Republican opponent.

Markey, a Malden Democrat who has served in the US House of Representatives since 1976, had been pressed by the media for the past week about whether he would open his tax returns to scrutiny, and when. Though Markey had said that he would do so “in the very near future,’’ his aides had continued to put off an anticipated date for the release.

Members of Congress are required to file financial disclosure forms showing their investments -in very broad terms in order to expose any potential conflicts of interest. But they can decide individually whether to open their actual tax returns to public scrutiny.


Markey’s Republican opponent Gabriel E. Gomez made his taxes available during the primary race and again Wednesday when he allowed reporters to review his returns from 2006 to 2011.

Markey campaign senior adviser Mark Horan said the Democrat would go even further than Gomez.

“We will be releasing tax returns tomorrow,’’ Horan said.

An aide said Gomez has requested an extension and not yet filed taxes for 2012. He has not released tax returns from 2005 that might reveal more about a tax break he received for the historical preservation of the facade of his home.

“Unlike Gabriel Gomez, who has flatly refused to disclose his 2005 tax return that would reveal what he pocketed by exploiting an obscure tax loophole and taking a questionable $280,000 tax break on his Cohasset home, Ed Markey will release his complete tax returns dating back to 2005 and including 2012,’’ said spokesman Andrew Zucker.

Gomez campaign spokesman Will Ritter had this to say about the commitment from Markey: “We’ll believe it when we see it.’’

Tim Buckley, spokesman for the Massachusetts Republican Party, questioned whether Markey was trying to bury the news with the timing of the release – on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend – and said Markey was being “typical of a career politician.’’


“Markey’s decision to dump his taxes on a Friday before a holiday proves that Markey has something to hide,’’ Buckley said.