A prominent hacker publication renewed its offer to pay $10,000 for President Trump’s tax returns Monday as suspicions linger surrounding the undisclosed source and scope of the president’s reportedly vast wealth.
The publication, “2600: The Hacker Quarterly,” revived its bounty on Monday this week after a pre-election effort to acquire Mr. Trump’s tax filings last September ultimately proved unsuccessful.
“Things have since changed,” 2600 said in a blog post Monday. “We now have a number of people in positions of great power who apparently feel they’re no longer beholden to the rest of us and can do as they please without consequence. This attitude is nothing new, but the scale of it today is quite unprecedented.”
“There is no law that compels the President to release this information. But being the first in modern history to refuse to do this creates a very unhealthy environment of mistrust and suspicion, one which ultimately hurts us all. And right now, the only thing that can begin the healing process is a good dose of truth.”
The magazine said it’ll pay at least $10,000 in exchange for Mr. Trump’s tax filings and is open to upping the reward if other backers want to contribute.
Hackers, however, heed warning: 2600 said it doesn’t want its readers “getting themselves into trouble” over the offer, and explicitly asked individuals not to try to obtain the tax returns by committing computer intrusions.
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“We believe there are enough people out there who already have legitimate access to this information who will see its disclosure as the right thing to do,” the blog post said.
“We need to find out if there’s a liar and a cheat in the White House or if some kind of a witch hunt is underway by his detractors. Continuing to withhold information that has traditionally been made public is the stuff of dictatorship, not the society we all build and maintain.”
Founded in 1984, 2600 hosts an widely attended hacker conference held in Manhattan every other year, “Hackers On Planet Earth,” or HOPE, in addition to putting out its eminent print and digital publication.
The magazine posted a $10,000 bounty last fall after Mr. Trump balked at requests to release his tax returns prior to the presidential election in November. Now it’s once again encouraging individuals possessing Mr. Trump’s tax filings for the years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 or 2015 to contact a specialized email address to make a deal, and said it’ll pay whomever provides 2600 first with any of the requested returns while Mr. Trump is in office.
About two-thirds of registered voters believe Mr. Trump should release his tax returns, according to the results of a Quinnipiac University poll published late last Month, despite the president continuing to falsely insist that the majority of Americans believe otherwise.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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