Harry Reid did not back down and put out a statement which includes the following quotes:
There is a controversy because the Republican presidential nominee, Governor Mitt Romney, refuses to release his tax returns. As I said before, I was told by an extremely credible source that Romney has not paid taxes for ten years. People who make as much money as Mitt Romney have many tricks at their disposal to avoid paying taxes. We already know that Romney has exploited many of these loopholes, stashing his money in secret, overseas accounts in places like Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.There are those who say that Reid should not have made the claim, because he admits he's not certain it's true, that therefore what Reid said is no more than gossip. Perhaps so, but Reid is nobody's fool, and I'm pretty sure he thought the matter through before he made the claim and before he released his subsequent instatement. If the claim is not true, think how foolish Romney could make Reid look by releasing his tax returns. So. Will he, or won't he release his tax returns?
....
When it comes to answering the legitimate questions the American people have about whether he avoided paying his fair share in taxes or why he opened a Swiss bank account, Romney has shut up. But as a presidential candidate, it’s his obligation to put up, and release several years’ worth of tax returns just like nominees of both parties have done for decades.
Photo from Wikipedia.
H/T to Juan Cole.
