have them be released for no real reason except to force him.

Nope. Turns out that there IS a real reason why public financial disclosure via tax returns has become standards practice for presidential candidates: it's to show the public that there's no conflicts of interest to worry about.

That Trump refused to release his was one red flag amongst many indicating that he had foreign business interests that he refused to divest from. Such conflicts of interest are a national security threat in the case of ANY high ranking government official, let alone the president himself.

prosecutors in New York would have ignored his fraudulent business practices, which they likely ignored for several years prior, if he hadn't become president and was seeking re-election.

So you're saying that it's unfair that he no longer gets a free pass to commit tons of crimes now that he's more publicly visible? Cry me a river!

Again, I am not defending him

Yeah, you are. You may not think that you are, but you definitely are.