Santorum still hasn't released tax returns

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum told CNN last week he would release his tax returns "in the next couple days," but five days later he hasn't released them.

Santorum said on Feb. 9 he would release them "pretty soon" and then narrowed that to "a couple of days."

"I had to go to and actually have an accountant take a look at them to make sure that I had all the papers that I was supposed to have," he said. "And I'm hopeful tomorrow that I'm actually going to meet with that guy and then we can get them out in the next couple of days."

Spokesman Hogan Gidley said Monday the campaign was discussing the subject, but did not say when the returns would be made public. Gidley did not return requests for comment Tuesday.

Santorum, who has recently surged to the top of many national polls, has promised to release his tax returns for weeks.

"Well, I do my own taxes and they're on my computer and I'm not home," he said during a Jan. 19 presidential debate in South Carolina. "Until I get home, I won't get them. When I get home, you'll get my taxes."

He told reporters on Jan. 25 in Florida that he would return to his home in Virginia to retrieve the returns.

Santorum was one of several Republican candidates to call for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to release his tax returns.

"I don't think it's a big deal," he said during the Jan. 19 debate.

Santorum's current filing with the Federal Election Commission shows a net worth of $1 million to $3 million. He earned less than half that amount as a member of the Senate, according to his final congressional financial disclosure report filed in 2007.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich released his 2010 tax returns on Jan. 19.

After a flurry of criticism for refusing to produce his return before April, Romney released his 2010 return and an estimate for 2011 on Jan. 26.

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has not released his tax returns.