WASHINGTON — A federal judge delivered a blistering rebuke Monday of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, declaring that the case was brought for an “improper purpose” and calling for attorney sanctions and disciplinary proceedings.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued the strongly worded ruling, describing the lawsuit — which centered on Trump’s leaked tax returns — as a form of self-dealing, since the president effectively controls the very agency he sued.
The legal battle wrapped up in May with a settlement that established a $1.776 billion fund intended to compensate individuals and groups aligned with the president. The settlement also included protections shielding those parties from tax audits, though the fund has since been abandoned.
In her ruling, Judge Williams wrote: “The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law.”
