U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams has ruled that President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over leaked tax returns was filed for an improper purpose and in bad faith. In a scathing decision, the judge voided a settlement agreement reached between the president and the government, characterizing the lawsuit as an exercise in self-dealing in which the president sued an entity effectively under his own control.
The judge stated that the legal process was used to legitimize an agreement that granted the president, his family, and related entities immunity from tax audits. According to the ruling, the suit was an attempt to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law and to provide immunity to people and entities affiliated with the president.
The controversy stems from a $10 billion lawsuit that resulted in a settlement creating a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate victims of government weaponization, referred to as a lawfare or slush fund. Although this fund has since been abandoned, Judge Williams has barred Trump and the government from citing the settlement in any future regulatory or judicial proceedings.
As a result of these findings, Judge Williams recommended attorney sanctions and disciplinary action. Lawyers and officials involved in the case have been referred to state bar authorities to determine if their actions violated legal ethics rules.