Has Romney Been Cheating the Mormon Church as Well as the IRS?

A CBS News piece out of Boston offers some further speculation as to why Mitt Romney may be refusing to release his tax returns: he may have been short changing the Mormon Church by not tithing 10% of his income as the church's directives dictate.  If this speculation is true, then it adds another layer to the "what is Mitt trying to hide" story line.   It might further suggest why Harry Reid - a Mormon himself - is going after Romney with such a vengeance since many other Mormons might be less than pleased if the penny pinching Romney was short changing their denomination.  Here are highlights from the column:

Whatever the level of exaggeration from the Senator [Harry Reid] or his source, there is probably at least some level of truth to the statement. Unfortunately, Romney is stonewalling the American public by not releasing his records so we’ll never know the truth.

But the source coming to Harry Reid for these revelations adds a level of intrigue. Reid just happens to be the highest-ranking member of the Mormon Church in the history of this nation.  It is likely that Senator Reid’s source shares the Mormon religion with Reid and Romney.  That message will not be lost on Romney. If the Bain fortress is not a fortress; if people are talking, Romney knows that trouble lies ahead.

And the motivation for this leak may not be political. It is likely personal and tied to the Mormon Church.
Specifically, if Romney was hiding money from the IRS he may have hidden money from his church.

This is something I have speculated about in this space in the past: a large part of Romney’s reluctance to release his records may be based on his relationship with his Mormon Church.  Some have speculated that Romney’s donations to the church might be a problem with the American public. Perhaps it is Romney’s shortchanging of his church that is Mr. Romney’s concern.

Perhaps there is a major story in the works on Romney’s IRS audits.   .   .   .   If reporters are working on stories about Romney being audited then he knows it and his staff knows it.

Whatever becomes of this story, Romney has opened himself up to endless speculation. Whatever is in those records must be devastating because he continues to allow the speculation around his returns to be a dominating cloud over his campaign.