Justin's Political Corner

On the Sunday talk shows, Republicans expressed outrage over Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) unsubstantiated claim that Mitt Romney has not paid taxes in 10 years, flatly accusing the Senate majority leader of lying.

On ABC’s “This Week,” an incensed Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Reid a “dirty liar,” saying he “complains about people with money but lives in the Ritz Carlton here down the street.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Reid’s accusation “is so out of bounds.”

“I think he’s lying about his statement — knowing something about Romney’s [taxes],” Graham said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think he’s created an issue here. I think he’s making things up at a time when the country is just about to fall apart.”

On CBS’ “Face The Nation,” Virginia’s Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell called Reid’s charge “reckless and slanderous.”

Reid initially lobbed the claim in an interview with the Huffington Post published Tuesday, saying an unnamed investor to Bain Capitol told him Romney “didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years.” He has since repeated the charge, including on the Senate floor, and emphatically vouched for the credibility of his source.

Top Obama campaign officials declined to repudiate Reid’s claims, and instead called on Romney to release the 23 years of tax returns that he privately provided John McCain’s 2008 campaign during its search for a vice presidential nominee.

H/T: Sahil Kapur at Talking Points Memo