“...including the possibility that Trump himself wanted this information published.”
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Aaaaaaaannnddd...we have today’s winning post! You betcha Trump wants to this out.
I'm not buying this explanation. This information does not come from the copies of the actual tax returns, but from a database that contains the data entries extracted from those returns. The source of that data can only be the IRS, not even Trump's lawyer Cohen would have that format. This comes from an IRS insider and he/she has committed a felony. Deep State Crime in action
There is certainly good argument in favor of that. By leaking his returns he takes the pressure off the demands that he release them, without having to be put on the spot to defend or answer for each and every detail - which nearly all other candidates including Bernie have faced.
The NYT has given us a summary. They haven’t published the actual document, at least not yet. This gives him tactical advantages 1) he can decry the actions of his opponents 2) he can argue that the summary is inaccurate without specificity 3) he can selectively release information favorable to him without having to go into great detail - charitable donations, business successes etc. 4) the claims that he is “not as rich as he says” are sort of laughed away because the NYT basically showed us he has taken in over $1B without paying taxes on it, which also explaining why he didn’t have to pay any taxes on it.
And so much more. They actually reported he paid an effective rate of 25%. From this he can point to the low effective rates paid by entities identified with his detractors and claim moral superiority on one of their core political planks - “the rich paying their fair share”.