Trump has made it clear that he never will release his tax returns.  This is a man untroubled by public display of his racism, of his ignorance, of his misogyny, intolerance, and xenophobia, and of continual and blatant lying.  So, how bad must be whatever is hiding in those returns?  It must be damning: appallingly, horrifically damning.

Then again, we are talking about Donald Trump.  It is questionable whether what he considers damning is what we would consider damning.  And even if the secret somehow came out, Trump would bluster his way through it.  So, a more interesting question is whether what Trump considers damning is what Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, John McCain, and other Republican loyalists would consider damning.  

By free, conscious choice, these men also have proclaimed themselves untroubled by Trump’s personality traits.  They occasional distance themselves from an obnoxious remark.   They make nominal disclaimers about merely supporting the party against the ultimate evil (Hillary).  They may not share the traits explicitly.  But their endorsement of Trump must be construed as endorsing Trump.  Worse, we must assume that these men also are untroubled by Trump’s obvious authoritarian streak.   

So, is whatever dark and hideous secret, whatever inexpressible vileness, that is hiding in Trump’s tax returns enough to finally trouble Republican loyalists?  This no longer is about Trump.  It is about the Republican Party.  We now have two reasons to pound out a constant, unrelenting drumbeat over Trump’s tax returns.  First, to unnerve and anger Trump, but second, just so we can see exactly what it is that Republican loyalists are loyal to.