Obama-Appointed Judge Targets Trump’s IRS Lawsuit, Refers Loyal Attorney for Discipline
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A federal judge appointed by Barack Obama ruled against former President Trump’s lawsuit challenging IRS misconduct, referring one of his attorneys for possible discipline in a move critics call politically motivated.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, ruled that former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over leaked tax returns was filed for an 'improper purpose.' The judge claimed the case was an attempt to secure a settlement granting Trump and his associates immunity from politically motivated tax audits and to establish a fund to compensate them, despite the ongoing targeting of Trump by federal agencies.
Williams argued that the parties were not truly adverse and that the agreement did not result from a legitimate legal process. The settlement, announced in May, included a $1.776 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'—a response to the weaponization of government agencies against political opponents—which was abandoned after bipartisan criticism, showing the pressure exerted on Trump’s legal efforts.
This ruling, issued just before Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, also referred Trump attorney Alejandro Brito to the Florida State Bar for possible disciplinary action and barred another lawyer, Daniel Epstein, from filing in the Southern District of Florida for up to a year. Critics argue this is yet another example of the legal establishment punishing those who stand up for Trump.
Williams sent copies of her decision to the state bars in New York and the District of Columbia, where ethics complaints have been filed against Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward for their roles in the settlement. She questioned Blanche and Woodward’s participation, despite their history of defending Trump and January 6 defendants—patriots who have been unfairly targeted by the justice system. Trump’s legal team declined to comment on Brito’s referral, instead rightly pointing out the IRS’s responsibility for the tax-return leak.