Trump faces judge on $10B suit
- A federal judge in Miami told President Donald Trump and the Justice Department to justify his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury after refusing to pause the case. - U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said Trump may not be “sufficiently adverse” to agencies he directs, ordered briefs by May 20, and set a May 27 hearing on jurisdiction. - The suit, filed January 29 over leaked tax returns, could end before discovery if the court finds no real legal conflict. (abcnews.com)
A federal judge in Miami is questioning whether President Donald Trump can keep pursuing his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department while he oversees both agencies. (abcnews.com) U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams denied a joint request to pause the case during settlement talks and instead ordered Trump’s private lawyers and the Justice Department to explain why the lawsuit belongs in federal court. (abcnews.com) (nbcnews.com) Williams wrote that Trump and the agencies he sued may not be “sufficiently adverse” to each other, a constitutional problem because federal courts can only hear real disputes between opposing sides. (abcnews.com) (nbcnews.com) She gave both sides until May 20, 2026, to brief whether “a case and controversy exists” and scheduled a hearing in Miami for May 27, 2026. (nbcnews.com) (politico.com) Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and the Trump Organization filed the case in the Southern District of Florida on January 29, 2026, naming the IRS and the Treasury Department as defendants. (courtlistener.com) (politico.com) The lawsuit says the government failed to protect their tax information and seeks at least $10 billion over leaks that exposed years in which Trump paid no federal income tax. (politico.com) The leak traces back to Charles Littlejohn, an Internal Revenue Service contractor who admitted taking tax return information tied to Trump and thousands of other wealthy taxpayers and was later sentenced to five years in prison. (justice.gov) (irs.gov) The Internal Revenue Service said in 2024 that it had made “substantial investments” in data security after the breach, and it publicly apologized to affected taxpayers in notices tied to the disclosure. (irs.gov) (politico.com) Before Williams intervened, both sides had told the court on April 17 that they were discussing a possible resolution and wanted 90 days to try to settle. (nbcnews.com) Now the first fight is not over damages or the leak itself, but over whether a sitting president can sue executive-branch agencies that answer to him at all. (abcnews.com) (politico.com)
