Melania Trump should release her immigration files, not hold a presser

If it takes weeks instead of hours for a presidential campaign to respond to a simple question, something’s up.

It’s an old rule of Washington, the longer you wait the more they’re probably hiding.

Inexplicably, it has taken weeks for Donald Trump and his campaign to explain if his wife Melania violated U.S. immigration laws when she first came here.

If there’s no issue, if there’s nothing to conceal, what’s the hold up?

On Tuesday evening Trump announced his wife will hold a news conference "over the next couple of weeks.” A news conference? We don’t need another Trump news conference, Melania should just release her immigration files.

Why, one wonders, is Donald Trump running in place on this profoundly damaging question when instant clarification is what the country requires?

Recall that last week The New York Post published naked photos of Melania Trump reportedly taken in 1995, which led many critics to ask if the former model had worked as a model in the United States a year before she had the right papers?

"They said my wife, Melania, might have come in illegally. Can you believe that one?" Trump told his supporters Tuesday.

Well yes, I can believe that one actually.

Why? Because Melania Trump has demonstrated an ambiguous relationship with the truth. She told CNN's Anderson Cooper in January that she first came to the U.S. in 1996, although it has since been determined that her nude photos were in fact taken in New York in 1995.

Then Michael Wildes, an immigration attorney who has worked for Trump’s organizations, alleged Melania was married prior to 2005. Melania obtained a green card in 2001 'based on marriage,’ Wildes said.

That’s quite a troubling oversight, if true.

But it’s far from the first inconsistency Melania has created. Her personal website suddenly disappeared last month after pointed questions were raised about her academic credentials.

Prior to their disappearance her official website and the biography published by the Republican National Committee in July stated that she had earned 'a degree in design and architecture at University in Slovenia.'

But CBS reported that she did not graduate and had, in fact, dropped out after a single year. No degree, no truth, no apology.

What’s startling is that the Trump campaign seems to think it can escape this kind of scrutiny and its political consequences.

So perhaps someone should remind Trump he’s running for president of the United States, not CEO of a Miss Universe pageant.

Melania, a Slovenian-born model, said she had never been married before she met Trump in New York. But she also reportedly said that she had written her own RNC speech and we all saw how that worked out.

So whilst the Trump campaign encourages its supporters to deport the undocumented and ‘build that wall’ to keep them out it seems his own wife’s paper’s may be causing his troubled campaign some sleepless nights.

Melania reportedly supports her husband's hardline stance on immigration, so it will be interesting to see if she follows through when it comes to her own.

On Tuesday Trump announced that his wife will eventually hold “a little news conference” to explain the conflicting reports about her immigration history.

But the last thing America needs is another Trump news conference. How about Melania just release her immigration file instead, then no press conference will be needed?

And Donald, while you’re at it, your own tax records would be welcome too.

Here's what Trump had to say about his wife's immigration status: