Obama urges Romney to follow father's lead and release more tax returns

President raises issue of Republican rival's Swiss bank account and attacks Todd Akin's 'offensive' remarks on 'legitimate rape'

guardian.co.uk, Adam Gabbatt and Tom McCarthy,  Monday 20 August 2012

Barack Obama said: 'I think we need to know that everyone's been playing
 by the same rules.' Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

BarackObama has launched a strident attack on Mitt Romney's refusal to release more than two years of his tax returns, in a rare statement by the president on the issue.

Taking questions from reporters in the White House briefing room, Obama brought up Romney's Swiss bank account, insisting that the average American "would find that relevant information". In the past, the Obama campaign has preferred to use surrogates to attack Romney on the issue.

The president also addressed Todd Akin's comments on "legitimate rape", calling the phrase "offensive" and saying that "rape is rape". The exchange was the first time in two months the president had taken questions from White House reporters.

At the press conference, Obama said: "When it comes to releasing taxes, that's a precedent that was set decades ago – including by Governor Romney's father.

"I don't think that's in any way out of bounds [to ask for the returns], particularly when we're going to be having a huge debate about how we reform our tax code. I think we need to know that everyone's been playing by the same rules."

In response to a question about whether Obama thought there was something Mitt Romney was "not telling us" in his tax returns, the president said there was a "difference between not playing by the same set of rules, and doing something illegal".

"We haven't suggested the latter," he said.

Asked about the negative tone of the campaign, specifically about an ad from a pro-Obama Super PAC that linked Romney's time at Bain Capital to the death of a woman from cancer, Obama said he had not approved or produced the commercial, adding that it had "barely run".

The president instead raised the issue of Romney's Swiss bank account, which Romney closed in 2010, saying that the average American "would find that relevant information, particularly at a time when we know we're going to have to make tough choices about spending and taxes". He again contrasted Romney's position with that of his father, who was governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969.

"Governor Romney's own dad says: 'The reason I put out 10 or 12 years [of returns] is that any single year might not tell you the whole story.'"

Obama added: "The American people have assumed that if you want to be president of the United States, your life's an open book – at least as far as your finances.

"This isn't overly personal here, guys, this is pretty usual. I don't think we're being mean by asking you to do what every other presidential candidate has done."

The president also used the briefing to criticise Todd Akin, the Republican senate nominee for Missouri who asserted on Sunday that "the female body has ways to shut pregnancy down" if subject to "legitimate rape".

Akin had appeared on Mike Huckabee's radio show on Monday afternoon to apologize for his comments, saying that he had "used the wrong words" but would not leave the race – although reports have since suggested the Republican party may replace him on the ballot.

Obama's briefing came shortly after Akin's appearance, the president insisting that "rape is rape".

"The idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we're talking about doesn't make sense to the American people, and certainly doesn't make sense to me."

Obama said the comments "underscore why we shouldn't have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making healthcare decisions on behalf of women".

Romney's spokesman Ryan Williams released a statement after the president's appearance, criticising Obama's response to the infamous Super PAC advert.

"After spending weeks refusing to denounce his Super Pac's scurrilous ad against Mitt Romney, President Obama once again failed to lead," Williams said.

"Worse yet, the president falsely alleged no one in his campaign had accused Mitt Romney of committing a crime.

"President Obama's failure to stand up to dishonest rhetoric and attacks demonstrates yet again he's diminished the office that he holds and his record is nothing more than business as usual in Washington."

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