Trump moves to dismiss $10 billion lawsuit against IRS over leaked tax returns
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump moves to dismiss $10 billion lawsuit against IRS over leaked tax returns")
US President Donald Trump Photograph: (AFP)
The move followed the Justice Department’s announcement of a proposed $1.7 billion compensation programme for people who claim they were unfairly targeted by the IRS for political reasons during previous administrations.
US President Donald Trump on Monday (May 18) moved to dismiss his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leak of his tax return information by an agency contractor to news outlets. The notice of voluntary dismissal was filed in a federal court in Miami.
Trump, along with his eldest sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, as well as the Trump Organisation, had sued the IRS and the Treasury Department. The lawsuit sought an 11-figure payout under a federal law that allows Americans to seek damages from the government if confidential taxpayer information is unlawfully disclosed.
The development came after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the creation of a $1.7 billion “Anti-Weaponisation Fund” aimed at processing claims from individuals who allege they faced politically motivated action or “lawfare” from the IRS.
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According to the DOJ, Trump agreed to drop the lawsuit in exchange for the creation of the fund. However, neither Trump nor his sons will receive any payment from it. Instead, they will receive a formal apology.
Reports suggested that Trump was willing to drop the IRS case as part of a wider settlement arrangement. However, the federal court filing submitted on Monday made no mention of any such agreement.
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Earlier this year, Trump’s legal team had indicated that settlement talks could be underway after seeking a 90-day pause in the proceedings.
The announcement immediately drew criticism from Democrats as Rep Jamie Raskin questioned whether such a fund could legally be created without approval from Congress.
“Creating this one point: seven billion dollar political slush fund at the Department of Justice in Congress would never pass that there’s no way he could get that through Congress,” Raskin said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
“So this is just an invention on his part, but even if Congress wanted to do it, I think it’s clearly unconstitutional on a number of grounds to begin with,” he added.
