Donald Trump, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and the family business sued the IRS in January for $10 billion because an independent contractor with the IRS leaked their tax returns to the media in 2020. The Trumps were embarrassed that the public knew how very little taxes had been paid by the Trumps for years.
The Trump argument is that the IRS should have done more to prevent the contractor, Charles Littlejohn, from leaking. Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison for his crime. But Trump seems to feel that the American taxpayers should also pay for his crime, to the tune of $10 billion.
Given the fact that Trump controls the IRS, a federal government agency, the judge in the case, an Obama appointee in the Southern District of Florida has demanded Trump’s lawyers and the Department of Justice (which represents the IRS) submit briefs by May 20 outlining why the two parties are in opposition of each other, which would present validity to the case. Without proof of opposition of the parties, the judge, Kathleen Williams, could throw out the case.
Judge Williams has also appointed six well-respected lawyers without connection to the Trump case to provide opinions on whether the case has legitimacy. If a settlement is agreed to before the May 20 deadline, there is little Judge Williams could do to prevent an exchange of money or other benefits between the two parties.
So of course, the White House and the DOJ are looking for a way to settle the lawsuit before the deadline.
And one of the options being considered as settlement is an agreement for the IRS to drop any audits of Trump, his family members, or their businesses.
In 2024, the New York Times determined from the previously released tax returns that an IRS audit could cost Trump $100 million.
A spokesperson for Trump’s law team said, “President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.”
IRS procedures call for the mandatory audit of the president and vice president’s annual tax returns.
Extra credit opinion reading from USA Today: “Trump’s IRS lawsuit is best shakedown in presidential history”