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Join NowVoters Deserve Transparency. JD Vance Should Release His Tax Returns!
Election Day is just around the corner, and vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance has STILL not released his tax returns, despite continued demands from voters.
Senator Vance is taking a page right out of Donald Trump’s playbook by attempting to hide his conflicts of interest. Just like Senator Vance, Trump promised during the election to release his tax returns—and then he refused, launching years of legal battles before the House of Representatives eventually released their records.
Now, Senator Vance is doing the same thing. During a campaign rally just two years ago, he said, “I have to reveal my tax returns and I’m fine with that. I think that’s an important part of transparency, I’m not gonna complain about it.” Instead of complaining, he’s avoided it altogether, refusing to release a single tax return while his opposing Democratic running mate, Tim Walz, has released 15 years of his tax returns.
This leaves us with one looming question: What’s Vance hiding?
We worked with Rural Organizing to launch a mobile billboard truck during the vice presidential debate to ask Senator Vance that exact question.
Over the course of his relatively short political career, Senator Vance has claimed a “rags-to-riches” story—but there are holes in his story. In his book, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, Senator Vance paints the picture of a “culture in crisis” and blames rural communities for the opioid crisis; meanwhile, he failed to disclose his own connections as a lawyer for a lobbying firm hired by Purdue Pharma, the makers of Oxycontin.
Senator Vance wants to trick everyday Americans into thinking he is “self-made,” when in reality his career has been funded by special interests and the wealthy. And his political rise was funded not by grassroots efforts but rather by far-right tech billionaire and 2020 election denier Peter Thiel and dark money.
Billionaire Thiel appears to be responsible for major developments in Senator Vance’s career, including helping him get his first “venture capitalist” job and donating a staggering $15 million—the largest donation ever given for a single Senate candidate—to get him elected to the Senate back in 2022.
What else do we not know about Senator Vance’s financials and potential conflicts of interest?
It’s common for presidential and vice presidential candidates to release their tax returns—Vice President Mike Pence did, Vice President Kamala Harris did, and President Joe Biden did when he was vice president. Senator Vance needs to live up to his word and show us his tax returns, like so many candidates before him have done.
Voters deserve transparency heading into Election Day. We need to keep up the pressure on Senator Vance to release his tax returns NOW! Here are three ways you can take action:
- Sign the petition: moveon.org/vance
- Help spread the word by sharing posts exposing Senator JD Vance with your friends, family, and neighbors on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
- Download, print, and display these posters calling Senator Vance out for not releasing his tax returns.
