Sen. Tom CottonThomas (Tom) Bryant CottonHillicon Valley: House passes anti-robocall bill | Senators inch forward on privacy legislation | Trump escalates fight over tech tax | Illinois families sue TikTok | Senators get classified briefing on ransomware Senators urge FERC to protect critical infrastructure from Huawei threats Enhancing protections for sensitive information in congressional investigations MORE faced a combative town hall audience on Monday when he defended President TrumpDonald John TrumpStates slashed 4,400 environmental agency jobs in past decade: study Biden hammers Trump over video of world leaders mocking him Iran building hidden arsenal of short-range ballistic missiles in Iraq: report MORE's decision not to release his tax returns. 

The Arkansas Republican was loudly booed during an event in Little Rock when asked if he would back forcing Trump to release the documents, so voters could see if the president has any ties to foreign government. 
 
"As far as I'm aware the president says he's still under audit," Cotton said. 
 
He added that "the president is also right that this was not a secondary or side issue of the campaign, this was a central issue of the campaign ... and he won this fight already." 
 
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Several constituents held up red cards indicating that they disagree.
 
Thousands of people turned out across the country over the weekend to demand that Trump release his tax returns, after he broke decades of presidential tradition by refusing to make them public. 
 
Trump said during the campaign it was due to an audit, but the IRS said that did not legally prevent him from releasing the documents. Once he took office, the White House said he had no plans to release them.
 
Democrats continue to push for Trump to release the documents, speculating that it could show ties to Russia. 
 
 
But Cotton added on Monday that there were other ways to figure out if Trump has tied to countries overseas, including a financial disclosure form that Trump has to fill out. 
 
"Second, it doesn't take a lot of effort to find out where Donald Trump has connections overseas. He normally puts his name on buildings where he has them," he said. 
Tags Chuck Schumer Donald Trump Tom Cotton