The leak of part of Donald Trump's 2005 tax return doesn't tell us that much. I mean, we all know that the tax codes in this country have been configured so that rich folks like him can avoid paying the same percentage of their incomes that a lot of non-rich people pay. It's only because of the Alternative Minimum Tax that Trump paid as much as he did and one of the primary goals of his administration is to do away with the A.M.T. If that had happened before '05, he would have paid something like 3-4%.
Kevin Drum does think that the tax return tells us this: That at least in that year, Donald Trump was a truly terrible businessman.
You know what does tell us a lot about the man? His response to the leak. The man who urged everyone to leak damaging information about his opponent is outraged that someone leaked something about him. Trump is, of course, always outraged about something and it's usually something like that…something he himself has done.
He also employed two of his favorite hollow insults. He called it "fake news" even though the White House confirmed it.
And of course, he attacked the success and fame of those who attacked him. I think he thinks the two worst possible things you can say about anyone is that they're not famous and their business is failing. The man who brought you Trump University and Trump Steaks and Trump Vodka and dozens of other Trump Failures tweeted that David Cay Johnston, the writer who leaked the form, was "a reporter who nobody ever heard of." (Well, the folks who give out Pulitzer Prizes have.)
Then a White House statement attacked Rachel Maddow's show, which broadcast the info. It said, "You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago."
Maddow's show, of course, has been doing great in the ratings lately, even before this.
I guess by "fake news," he may have meant that the story of how Johnston got the forms was fake…but it's not at all far-fetched. It's exactly how most leaks occur these days. And if Trump didn't leak the forms himself (as some suspect he did for some reason that makes no sense to me), then he has no idea how Johnston got them. But not knowing anything never stops this guy.