Reid says his anonymous source tipped him off that Romney is hiding his taxes for a very good reason. The mighty Right Wing Spin Room Bluster Machine says that Reid is lying, and Romney doesn't have to release his taxes to prove this. I've got a way for Romney to prove himself without going through the embarrassing prospect of letting voting citizens know how much money he made.
Anonymous source, through Harry Reid claims that Romney has found a legal way to dodge income taxes. Romney and his surrogates claim that this is a vile, evil misrepresentation of his character, and it's provably false, except for the detail that they will not provide the proof. It's a loggerheads situation, but Romney could solve it all simply enough and prove that he is the truth-teller here, and do it without full disclosure to the other taxpayers.
First of all, John McCain could say something. Four years ago, Romney gave decades worth of tax returns to John McCain as a potential running mate. Then he was passed over for the job. Not mavericky enough? Taxes didn't pass muster? McCain isn't saying. The one man who absolutely knows is tight-lipped on this issue. If McCain, who has a reputation for sometimes telling the truth, even at the expense of being a team player, were to speak up that would make me worry that Reid had overstepped.
Here's how Romney can step up to the plate and show that he is "Honest Mitt." Create a bipartisan jury of six people to look at Romney's returns and comment in general terms about what they found. On the Democratic side, I'd pick George Mitchell, Jimmy Carter and Rachel Maddow. On the Republican side, you'd have McCain, Chris Christie, and I'm running out of ideas for a Republican that doesn't just take their order from Rush Limbaugh. Each side could operate on a gag order. Naturally, since Romney is so truthful and all, there will be a unanimous verdict that Romney is mischaracterized as somebody getting a free ride off the system. Or possibly not.
Will Romney take the Terry challenge? I doubt it. They think they can milk this imbroglio forever, using the same playbook that McCain used when the New York Times reported on him getting a bit too close to a lovely lobbyist. That managed to sideline that issue, but four years later the Times is still standing.