BLACKWOOD — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested Wednesday Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has something to hide by refusing to release his tax returns.
Clinton assailed the presumptive GOP nominee for not making the information publicduring a campaign rally in New Jersey. Trump has said throughout his campaign that he won't immediately release the documents because he is being audited, but suggested this week he may not release his tax returns before the general election in November.
Clinton delivered the attack after a man in the audience at Camden County College in Blackwood yelled about Trump's taxes. Clinton was in the middle of criticizing Trump over his proposed tax plan, which she argued was "written by billionaires, for billionaires."
"Here is what Donald Trump wants to do. He has released just one detailed proposal in this whole campaign," Clinton said.
"What about his tax returns," shouted a man in the audience.
"Well, we are going to get to that," Clinton responded.
After further criticizing Trump's proposal, Clinton shifted back to Trump's tax returns.
"And what about his taxes?" she asked.
"When you run for president, especially when you become the nominee that is kind of expected," Clinton continued.
"My husband and I have released 33 years of tax returns. We've got eight years on our website right now," she said. "So you've got to ask yourself, 'Why doesn't he want to release them?'"
Clinton added: "Yeah, we're going to find out."
On Tuesday, Trump told the Associated Press he will release them after the audit is complete and that he won't instruct his lawyers to do so sooner, even if it isn't finished by November.
"There's nothing to learn from them," the real estate mogul told the AP.
Trump also said he doesn't believe the American public is interested in his returns.
Clinton made her first public campaign appearance in New Jersey on Wednesday since she launched her nationwide bid. Eager to put the primaries behind her, she told supporters voters will have a clear choice to make when they head to the polls in November.
More than 1,000 enthusiastic supporters welcomed the former secretary of state to Camden County.
Following the event, Clinton visited Cooper Hospital in the heart of Camden, where she greeted about 40 employees — mostly nurses — and thanked them for their work. Clinton prodded them during an 18-minute informal question-and-answer session to talk about their concerns in the health care field and discuss the Affordable Care Act.
Among the hospital administrators who welcomed the Democratic White House hopeful to Cooper was Kevin O'Dowd, Republican Gov. Chris Christie's former chief of staff who assumed a leadership role at the hospital in 2014.
But before Clinton can get to battling Trump in the General Election, she needs to lock away the Democratic nomination. New Jersey holds its primary June 7.
Her Democratic rival, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, held a pair of rallies on Sunday and Monday in New Brunswick and Atlantic City. Clinton clinched enough delegates to make it mathematically impossible for the Vermont senator to secure enough delegates in the remaining primary contests.
But Sanders' aides have suggested the his path to the nomination is in securing superdelegates.
NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
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