Harry Reid: ‘Of Course’ Romney Paid Taxes, ‘I Have No Repentance’

Senator Harry Reid gave an interview to Fusion’s Jorge Ramos in which he once again refused to apologize for lying about Mitt Romney’s taxes.

In the midst of defending himself, Reid admits the claims he made on the Senate floor had nothing to do with any genuine belief Romney never paid taxes. On the contrary, Reid now admits, “Of course he paid taxes.”

“On August 2012 you said on the Senate floor that Mitt Romney had not paid taxes in ten years but there was no evidence of that. Did you purposefully lie?” Ramos asks. Reid replies:

I’m really happy to respond to this because it has been blown way out of proportion, but blown my way. Mitt Romney, during the time he was running for President, refused to give us his tax returns. When I ran for the Senate in 1974 that was an issue, tax returns. This has been an issue of mine for a long time. He never… he’ll come someplace, he’ll say, “I always paid taxes.” He refused to show the American people his tax returns.

Ramos interjects to point out that Romney has stated he “paid taxes every year,” and Reid replies, “But that’s a phony answer! Of course he paid taxes, what he didn’t do is let us see his tax returns.”

“Of course,” Senator Reid? Since when was the fact you called into question a given?

At this point, Sen. Reid slips back into his 2012 talking points claiming sources at Bain Capital told him Romney hadn’t paid taxes. Reid then says Romney should “give us his tax returns” and “let the American people judge that.” It’s not clear why anyone in 2015 would need to judge Mitt Romney’s tax returns.

Asked who his sources for the claims about Romney were, Reid refuses to answer, saying, “I’m just like you; I don’t have to give up my sources.” Ramos then points to Reid’s recent interview with CNN, saying, “you sounded unrepentant.” “I have no repentance because it was an issue that was important,” Reid replied.

When Ramos presses the point that there “was no evidence,” Reid seems momentarily at a loss for words. After a hesitation, he leans in and says, “Listen, there’s an easy way to resolve this. Let him give us his tax returns.”

“So no apologies to Mitt Romney?” Ramos asks. “Oh, none whatsoever. Zero. None,” Reid says. And with that, the interview moves on to other topics.