At debate, Romney hedges on whether he would release tax returns

Under pressure to release his tax returns, Mitt Romney gave conflicting signals at the Fox News/Wall Street Journal debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., as to whether he would make them public.

At one point, Romney was asked directly whether he would release his returns. He suggested that under tradition, presidential candidates typically released them in April. But he didn’t go so far as to say he would actually release his then.

In fact, it wasn’t entirely clear what he said he would do:

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“I hadn’t planned on releasing tax records, because the law requires us to release all of our assets, all the things we own. That I’ve already released; it’s a pretty full disclosure. But you know, if -- if that’s been the tradition, then I’m not opposed to doing that,” Romney said.

But then he hedged. “Time will tell. But I anticipate that most likely I’m going to get asked to do that around the April time period, and I’ll keep that open,” he said.

He was then asked, yet again, whether that meant he would release the records in April.

“I think I’ve heard enough from folks saying, look, you know, let’s see your tax records. I have nothing in -- in them that -- to suggest there’s any problem, and I’m happy to do so. I sort of feel like we’re, we’re showing a lot of exposure at this point, and if I become our nominee I’m -- and what’s happened in history is people have released them in about April of the coming year, and that’s probably what I’d do.”

Got that?

Earlier in the debate, Rick Perry called on Romney to release his returns. “Mitt, we need for you to release your income tax,” he said as the crowd cheered, “so the people of this country can see how you made your money. And I think that’s a fair thing.”