Four former senior federal tax officials have warned that President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) threatens the integrity of the courts because he “effectively controls both sides of the case.”
Newsweek reached out to legal representatives for Trump via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization have sued the IRS and Treasury seeking $10 billion over historic leaks of confidential tax data to news outlets between 2018 and 2020.
The suit alleges reputational and financial harm and faults the government for failing to safeguard returns that former IRS contractor Charles “Chaz” Littlejohn stole and disclosed. Littlejohn pleaded guilty in 2023 and received a five-year sentence in 2024.
Littlejohn provided data to The New York Times and ProPublica, according to prosecutors and court filings. A 2020 New York Times article reported, citing Littlejohn, that Trump paid $750 in federal income tax in 2016.
What To Know
The amicus brief filed in the Southern District of Florida on February 6, 2026, told a federal judge in Miami that Trump’s simultaneous role as lead plaintiff and head of the executive branch overseeing the Justice Department raises the risk of “collusive” litigation that could entangle the court in an illegitimate proceeding.
The brief said the Justice Department may not “zealously defend the public fisc” against the president with the same vigor it would show against other taxpayers, urging the court to proactively manage the case to protect public trust.
It also argues the claim is time-barred under the Internal Revenue Code’s two-year limitations period, improperly targets the United States for a contractor’s actions, and seeks “unsupported and excessive” damages.
The filing urges the court to order both sides to address jurisdiction, conflicts, a possible stay until Trump leaves office, and to strike the $10 billion demand from the pleadings, while considering the appointment of outside amici to argue key issues.
What People Are Saying
The group said in the brief: “President Trump controls both sides of this litigation… On the government side, the President has increasingly asserted control over litigation decisions by the Department of Justice.
“Collusive litigation threatens the integrity of the judicial process… [and] it is uncertain whether the Department of Justice will zealously defend the public fisc in the same way that it has against other plaintiffs,” the former officials added in the same filing.
President Donald Trump’s lawsuit reads: “Defendants have caused Plaintiffs reputational and financial harm, public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished their business reputations, portrayed them in a false light, and negatively affected President Trump, and the other Plaintiffs’ public standing.”
Trump said when asked by reporters about being on both sides of the legal dispute on February 2: I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself.”
“I think what we’ll do is do something for charity. We could make it a substantial amount. Nobody would care because it’s going to go to numerous very good charities.”
What Happens Next
The court will consider whether to accept the amici’s recommendations, including an order to show cause on jurisdiction and conflicts, potential appointment of independent amici, and whether to stay proceedings until Trump leaves office.
Future filings will address the statute of limitations, the government’s liability for a contractor’s actions, and whether the $10 billion demand is legally sustainable or should be struck at the pleading stage.
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