So much for pretending he was ever going to release them if not for that non-existent audit Trump keeps telling everyone he's under. Here's Trump's acting Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney on this weekend's Fox News Sunday, attacking Democrats for requesting that the IRS release Trump's tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee:

Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney told "Fox News Sunday" in an exclusive interview that Democrats will "never" see President Trump's tax returns, days after a House Democrat committee chairman made the unprecedented demand that the IRS provide the documents.

Mulvaney's comments marked an apparent escalation in the White House's rhetoric on the issue. On Wednesday, Trump responded with a dismissive taunt to Democrats' renewed push for his tax information, but suggested he might be willing to provide the information pending the conclusion of an audit.

"Oh no, never -- nor should they," Mulvaney told Bill Hemmer, who is filling in for host Chris Wallace, when asked if Democrats will ever see the president's tax returns. "That’s an issue that was already litigated during the election. Voters knew the president could have given his tax returns. They knew that he didn’t and they elected him anyway."

Mulvaney added that Democrats "know" they won't get the returns, and "just want attention on the issue because they don’t want to talk to us about policy." A "fundamental" purpose of tax law, Mulvaney continued, is to protect the privacy of tax filers.

"If they don't get what they want in the Mueller report, they're going to ask for the taxes," Mulvaney said. "If they don't get what they want in the taxes, they're going to ask for something else. It doesn't surprise anybody."

The statute under which Ways and Means Chairman Neal requested the documents was written specifically after the Tea Pot Dome Scandal of the 1920s, to give congress the means to make sure that the Executive Branch was not using their offices for corrupt purposes. The ability to get tax returns from the IRS does not have a lot of "wiggle room," according to most legal scholars.

If Trump has nothing to hide, he should be happy to release them, just like the Mueller report. You know Fox is never going to ask any of them that question, but it's long past time the rest of the media started. What is he hiding that he doesn't want the voters to know about?