Larry Flynt offering $1million for Romney’s financial records

Hustler magazine publisher, and self-described free speech activist, Larry Flynt is offering $1 million for anyone who will provide him with Mitt Romney's financial records.

Flynt, 69, has purchased full-page ads in Sunday's Washington Post and the Tuesday, September 11, issue of USA Today.

"What is he hiding?" the ad text reads. "Maybe, now, we'll find out." The ad also includes a phone number and email address where anyone with information can contact Flynt.

A press release credited to Hustler says Flynt is "offering up to a million dollars in cash for documented evidence concerning Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's unreleased tax returns and/or details of his offshore assets, bank accounts and business partnerships."

Romney has agreed to release only his 2010 and 2011 tax returns so far.

On Friday, the Secret Service and FBI announced they are investigating an anonymous letter from an individual claiming to have stolen copies of Romney's tax returns. The letter reportedly demands $1 million in hard-to-trace Internet funds. Romney's accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, has denied that any records were stolen.

Flynt, a registered Democrat who once ran for president as a Republican, is no stranger to politics. And he's certainly no stranger to offering $1 million rewards for his various political interests. He's made similar offers, including a request to debunk the Warren Commission's investigation into the death of John F. Kennedy to most recently asking for evidence supporting his belief that Texas Gov. Rick Perry was guilty of infidelity.

During the impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton, Flynt made a $1 million offer for evidence of marital infidelity against Republican members of the House who were leading the trial against Clinton. That offer led to incoming House Speaker Bob Livingston resigning after evidence of his own affair was publicly revealed.

In 2007, Flynt offered a financial reward for evidence showing that Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter had cheated on his wife. Vitter has remained in office, even after the evidence was made public.

In 2003, Flynt was one of several atypical candidates to run in the California gubernatorial recall election to replace Democrat Gray Davis.

Flynt has also run into some political troubles of his own recently. In August, California's Fair Political Practices Commission accused him of failing to report campaign donations in a timely manner that Flynt made to a state Assembly candidate. However, Flynt was not fined by the agency since he filed his report immediately after the complaint was issued.