Florida Judge Rules Trump IRS Lawsuit Filed in Bad Faith, Imposes Sanctions
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams concluded that former President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the IRS was pursued for an improper purpose and sanctioned several officials and attorneys involved.
A federal judge in Florida found that former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service was filed in “bad faith” and intended to manipulate the judicial process. Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama-appointed district judge, said the case was not brought to vindicate rights but to lend legitimacy to an agreement that would grant immunity to Trump-affiliated individuals and entities while spending billions of taxpayer dollars.
Williams wrote that the facts showed there was no genuine adversarial dispute, no real case or controversy, and no question of who would prevail. She noted that the $1.776 billion “Fund” appeared more like a branding effort than a calculated damages award.
The judge imposed sanctions on several officials, including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, and referred them to bar associations in New York and Washington, D.C. for disciplinary review. Trump attorney Alejandro Brito was referred to the Florida bar, and lawyer Daniel Z. Epstein was barred from filing cases in the Southern District of Florida for one year.
"After a review of the record, and the Parties’ statements, the Court declines to adopt or accept the credulous exercise of divorcing President Trump’s current job title from an understanding of what happened here," the judge wrote.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team claimed the IRS had allowed a “rogue, politically-motivated employee” to leak confidential information, but neither the Treasury Department nor the Justice Department responded to requests for comment.
Earlier this year, Trump sued the IRS and Treasury for $10 billion, alleging a former IRS subcontractor improperly disclosed tax returns. The case was withdrawn two days before a filing was due, after which an agreement was announced that would create an “anti-weaponization fund” and grant immunity from IRS audits. The judge’s order does not address the fund or immunity agreement directly, but bars Trump and related parties from citing the purported settlement in any official proceeding.