Friday Document Dump

It used to be that one of the oldest political tricks in the book was to release potentially damaging information after the close of business on a Friday when most mainstream journalists are gone for the weekend. Doesn't quite work as well in the digital age. Via Boston Globe:

Paul Ryan and his wife paid an effective tax rate of 20 percent last year and 15.9 percent the year before, according to tax returns the presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee released late on Friday afternoon. Ryan’s tax returns, released through Mitt Romney’s campaign, show that he paid $64,764 in taxes on $323,416 of adjusted gross income in 2011. He and his wife paid $34,233 in taxes on $215,417 of adjusted gross income in 2010. [snip] anna Ryan inherited a trust, worth between $1 million and $5 million, after her mother’s death in 2010. Ryan, as well as Romney’s campaign, declined to say how many of his tax returns were provided for the vice presidential selection vetting process - and whether that number differs from the number they’re providing for voters to vet. Romney, who was being considered as a running mate by Senator John McCain in 2008, provided 23 years worth of tax returns to McCain’s campaign.

So far nobody's reporting anything unusual about Ryan's returns other than he's released his and his running mate hasn't. Maybe the GOP is hoping that point will fade away over the weekend.