The Obama campaign tried Friday to get Mitt Romney to release more tax returns with a new offer: Make five years of documents public and we won't be too harsh.
The Romney campaign wasn't buying it.
Romney has already released his 2010 returns and estimates of his 2011 taxes.
"To provide these five years, the Governor would have to release only three more sets of returns in addition to the 2010 return he has released and the 2011 return he has pledged to provide," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina wrote to Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades.
"And, I repeat, the Governor and his campaign can expect in return that we will refrain from questioning whether he has released enough or pressing for more."
Messina noted that Romney "apparently fears that the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide.
"So I am prepared to provide assurances on just that point: if the Governor will release five years of returns, I commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more--neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign."
Romney Thursday said he has never paid less than 13 percent in taxes over the last 10 years, but continued to resist Democratic pressure to release a decade's worth of data.
His campaign continued to resist Friday.
"It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney’s tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending," Rhoades wrote.
"If Governor Romney’s tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for President Obama to discuss them over the next 81 days.
"In the meantime, Governor Romney will continue to lay out his plans for a stronger middle class, to save Medicare, to put work back into welfare, and help the 23 million Americans struggling to find work in the Obama economy."