DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: If Donald Trump's tax plan, to the extent that he's outlined it, had been in effect in 2005, he would have paid a lower tax rate, less than 3 and a half percent, than the lower half -- the lower 50 percent -- of all American taxpayers, who pay a little more than 3 and a half percent. He would do that on almost $3 million a week of income, and the lower half's average income is about $302 a week. So, I think that's a very important development. Donald Trump thinks he should live like a king and pay taxes like a pauper. And, Trump and the White House will not even give us a copy of the audit letter, an innocuous document, so I don't think there's any reason to believe Donald Trump is actually under audit if they won't produce audit letters.

[...]

JOSH BARRO: It's very simple. Donald Trump has no intention of releasing his tax returns. He will not release his tax returns unless he's put in a position where he must do so or it's in his best interest to do so. It's hard to see what that situation will be. And he will say whatever he can say at the time about why he's not releasing them. It's like during the campaign, remember, when he signed that pledge to support the Republican candidate and then when he thought he wasn't going to win the primary he was saying, “the pledge doesn't apply because they treated me very unfairly.” And then when he was going to win the primary the pledge was back on again and, in fact, it was very inappropriate that other candidates were talking about not supporting him. A commitment from Donald Trump doesn't mean anything.

The promise that he made about releasing his taxes was inconvenient and he will not abide by it unless he is somehow forced by law to release the returns. If Democrats take back control of Congress in 2018, they can compel the returns' release. Some state legislatures are looking at imposing laws that would require him to disclose his taxes to be on the ballot to run for president in 2020. That's a way we might ultimately see the president's taxes. But he's not going to release them voluntarily and that's all he means when he offers eight different reasons about why he can't release them.

[...]

MIKE LUPICA: Well, first of all, it's clear that this audit, if you follow Trump's thinking on this, is going to have a longer run than Meet the Press has had on NBC, OK? He's used it as an elaborate cover. Guys like [Sen.] Tom Cotton [(R-AR)], in the short run, still think it benefits them to align themselves with this president. But that reaction isn't going to be the last that somebody from this Senate hears from his constituents. Because the idea that he is still hiding behind this audit -- we're going to find Judge Crater before we see Donald Trump's taxes.

[...]

JOHNSTON: The demonstrations, more than a hundred peaceful demonstrations all around the country over the weekend, were not focused on Trump. He's never going to change. They were focused on Congress, and saying you members of Congress, if you want to stay with Trump, you're going to get voted out. And what we're seeing going on in the White House now, is a total lack of transparency. They have tightened up on releasing information, they're not going to release the visitor logs, all sorts of federal agencies have stripped data that's no longer readily available, and what you're seeing is, a Third World sort of government-in-the-making where the ruling family, the Trumps, are exploiting their position in the government for their personal benefit.

Previously:

Tax March Activist Heather McGhee To Trump: “Show Us Your Taxes. What Are You Hiding?”

With Tax March Looming, Watch Fox’s Absurd Defense Of Trump Hiding His Tax Returns

Trump’s Own Precedent For Releasing Tax Returns While Under Audit Burns Those Defending Him